Air traffic increased sharply in October, driven primarily by increased international travel, trips to friends and family, and tourism. However, there is some concern that companies and authorities may opt out of domestic flights going forward.
”You just move the emissions to another place,” says Swedavia's Marketing Director Charlotte Ljunggren.
Recently, Region Stockholm developed new guidelines for its business travel. Starting next year, their 45,000 employees will opt out of flying for trips that take less than 5 hours by train.
The fact that more regions, authorities and companies will follow the example of the Stockholm Region is something that Swedavia believes could ultimately have consequences for Swedish international flights.
”"If we want accessibility to and from Sweden, we must all continue to fly to our larger airports, otherwise we will just move the emissions to another nearby airport, such as Copenhagen. And then we will not have gained anything for the climate," says Charlotte Ljunggren.
What do you mean then?
”"Well, if Gothenburg residents are not allowed to fly to Arlanda, they will fly to Copenhagen or Frankfurt, for example, and from there on to abroad. You just move the emissions to another place."”
”"The solution is not to stop flying, however, the aviation industry, like other industries, needs to transition to sustainable aviation and that transition is now underway at our airports together with our partners. Already today, biofuels play an important role, electric aviation and in the long term also new technologies such as hydrogen will be important parts of the sustainable air travel of the future."”
The Green Party has previously decided that they will push to ban air traffic on routes where trains can replace them, such as Stockholm–Gothenburg.
”"The airlines receive the largest volumes between Stockholm and Gothenburg, where the bulk is. And in order for the companies to be able to afford to maintain air traffic to, for example, northern Sweden, it must be ensured that there are also flights between Gothenburg and Stockholm," says Charlotte Ljunggren and continues:
”"We also see that it is important for future travelers to be able to easily combine flights with trains and other modes of transport for smooth and sustainable travel, both to and from airports."”
October was otherwise the month with the highest measured traffic figures for Swedavia since the pandemic broke out in March last year. During the month, nearly 1.7 million passengers flew via the state-owned group's ten airports, which is an increase of 127 percent compared to October last year.
”"The big reason for that is that the restrictions have eased. We have also worked hard to regain traffic to Sweden in the face of fierce international competition," says Charlotte Ljunggren, mentioning that Finnair, Ryanair and Eurowings have all decided to open Nordic bases at Arlanda.
However, this is a decrease of minus 52 percent compared to 2019. Air traffic is only expected to fully recover in two to five years, according to the aviation industry's collective assessment.
”"Then it could be 2019 figures again at the European level in general. But the industry has become increasingly positive about the recovery, and it is primarily driven by international travel," says Charlotte Ljunggren.
The largest percentage increase among Swedavia's ten airports was in October at Bromma, where domestic traffic increased by 355 percent compared to the same month last year. International traffic at Bromma increased by 258 percent.
At Arlanda, total traffic (both international and domestic) increased by 128 percent compared to October 2020. At Landvetter, the corresponding increase was 154 percent.
Source: DI.SE
