Construction company Peab has decided to cease operations of Ängelholm Helsingborg Airport until further notice. After several years of declining passenger numbers, the situation during the corona crisis has become acute, the company writes in a press release.
The reason why Peab is closing down operations is that the airport will not generate any revenue in the foreseeable future. According to its own statement, the company has ”advanced and constructive discussions with a number of municipalities” in northwestern Skåne about the conditions for operating the airport and the financial conditions that exist for it.
”"A prerequisite in the negotiations is that the financial responsibility will be borne by someone other than Peab. The conditions for restarting the airport are therefore not determined by Peab," the company writes.
During the first quarter, Peab's results were burdened by a current deficit of SEK 10 million related to the airport. In connection with the decision to close the airport, the operation will be burdened with an additional SEK 40 million, of which SEK 20 million consists of goodwill impairment.
”"We have operated the airport for ten years and in recent years we have stated that in the long term we cannot take sole responsibility for this important social function. The effects of the corona pandemic on travel have brought the issue to a head. Without revenue and with an unclear future for aviation, we must now unfortunately take the step and close the airport until further notice. At the same time, I have good hopes that the municipalities in Northwestern Skåne want to find a solution so that the airport can be restarted in the future," says Peab's CEO Jesper Göransson in the press release.
While waiting for the municipalities to respond, Peab must lay off staff at the airport. However, the airport will retain its airport certificate, which means that some strategically important positions will remain until further notice. This is also described as a prerequisite for a rapid restart of operations later on.
The airlines SAS and BRA normally operate flights to the airport, but since April 6, traffic has ceased due to the corona pandemic. Yesterday, SAS announced that the idea was to resume the Arlanda-Ängelholm route on June 15. BRA applied for reconstruction on April 6. Previously, both companies have also flown to Gotland during the summer season and to Sälen/Trysil and Åre/Östersund during the winter. The number of passengers at the airport amounted to 387,000 last year, according to statistics from the Swedish Transport Agency. Five years earlier, the figure was 408,000.
Source: di.se
