Copenhagen Airport would very much like to attract travellers from southern Sweden.
All airports try to expand their catchment area of passengers. For Copenhagen Airport, this means they are eager to attract customers in southern Sweden. If last year's figures are an indicator in the battle for passengers in southern Sweden, they show an advantage for Copenhagen. While the airport in Kastrup grew by almost 4 percent, Malmö Airport Sturup decreased its number of passengers by 1 percent, not least due to a decline in domestic traffic of a full 7 percent.
”We are fighting for all customers, and that includes all Swedes who can now easily travel to us by train,” says Thomas Woldbye from Copenhagen Airport, who also states that he is closely following the debate about new high-speed railways in southern Sweden.
”If they do, our catchment area in Sweden will grow further, which is positive.”
Men Jonas Abrahamsson, the CEO of Swedavia, which owns Sturup, does not see the statistics as an indicator of a loss and points to a natural consequence of the airport having experienced growth of just over 30 percent since 2010.
”Kastrup is, of course, an important airport for international travel in southern Sweden, and Malmö Airport complements Copenhagen with smooth passenger flows on the domestic side and many direct routes, particularly to Eastern Europe,” says Jonas Abrahamsson, who sees good potential for attracting more Danish travellers across the strait.
”But to develop further, public transport to and from the airport is needed,” he says, agreeing with Per Tryding, Deputy CEO of the South Swedish Chamber of Commerce.
”The planned widening of the E65 is an important step. But I would also like to see more and new bus routes to Sturup. However, a railway is likely to be a long way off.”
Per Tryding also believes that Copenhagen Airport is important for the business community in southern Sweden and is positive about the major investments currently taking place at Kastrup. However, he is concerned about how the government and Swedavia are now so clearly prioritising Arlanda, thereby risking sidelining other airports.
”Smaller airports are not at all on the radar in business policy right now; everything is about Stockholm Arlanda. It might affect Sturup's opportunities negatively. Even though Sturup is smaller, it's also important that there's an alternative to Copenhagen Airport. It affects prices and service,” says Per Tryding.
Source.di.se
