Arlanda is the most important airport for tourism to all of Sweden from abroad. It is an important hub for onward travel within the country.

According to a new study, accessibility, i.e. the number of flights and flight routes to Arlanda from abroad, has decreased by -25 percent between 2018 and 2023.

We have been aware that the opportunities for tourists to travel to Sweden by air have deteriorated and now we have it in black and white that accessibility to Sweden's most important airport, Arlanda, has deteriorated significantly since before the pandemic, says Visit Sweden's CEO Susanne Anderson.

The analysis conducted by Copenhagen Economics in collaboration with SEO Economic Research on behalf of Visit Sweden, Region Stockholm and Swedavia compares the accessibility of Stockholm Arlanda with Helsinki, Oslo, Hamburg, Milan, Berlin, Vienna, Copenhagen, Dublin, Barcelona, Munich, Amsterdam, Paris and London.  

Of the compared regions, only Oslo, Hamburg and Helsinki have lower accessibility than Stockholm Arlanda in 2023.

Both domestic and international flight availability to Arlanda has decreased. Domestic flights by -32 percent and international flights by -24 percent. Domestic flights to and from Arlanda are important for transporting tourists who arrive by international flight further within the country.

The largest foreign decrease in accessibility to Stockholm Arlanda between 2018 and 2023 is in Asia with -54 percent, followed by the Nordics with -25 percent, the Rest of Europe -24 percent, Latin America -21 percent, Africa -15 percent, the Middle East -10 percent and North America -4 percent. 

In 2023, Arlanda Airport will account for 94 percent of the total accessibility to the Stockholm region (domestic and international flights) and Bromma Airport will account for 2 percent of the accessibility from abroad by flight to the Stockholm region and for 35 percent of the accessibility by domestic flights.

Background

The accessibility study was commissioned by Visit Sweden, Region Stockholm and Swedavia and conducted by Copenhagen Economics in collaboration with SEO Economic Research. The survey was conducted over a week in September 2023.

The report is a follow-up to the report on the Stockholm region's international accessibility published in 2012 and 2019, where the three reports are comparable as the calculations are made according to the same method and with the same type of data.

According to the press release.