Empty seats and canceled flights – the aviation industry in Sweden is struggling against headwinds during the current corona crisis. Now Sweden's municipalities and regions are demanding increased support for non-state airports that are being hit hard financially.
Refrain from unnecessary travel and stay home if you feel sick. This is the advice from the Swedish Public Health Agency during Covid-19, which for obvious reasons has led to reduced travel in Sweden.
This is particularly noticeable at the country's airports.
According to the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKR), the pandemic has contributed to operating deficits at regional airports – which are owned by municipalities and sometimes also by regions – of approximately SEK 275 million. Privately owned airports are also being hit hard with financial deficits, SKR states.
Now SKR is requesting that the state provide targeted financial support to all non-state airports.
”"It's actually quite dramatic - you have air traffic and suddenly it's basically completely gone. It also affects municipalities, which are also making huge efforts to cope with their usual core mission of elderly care and other things. Someone has to pay for the airports to exist," says Gunilla Glasare, head of the department for growth and community development issues at SKR.
In a petition to the government, SKR highlights three areas where it wants the state to take greater responsibility. In addition to targeted financial support, SKR also wants the government to decide on the following: commercial flights and procured air traffic at more regional airports, and contingency compensation for more regional airports.
”"Being an emergency airport means that, for example, you can receive ambulance flights 24 hours a day, every day of the week. It is important for Sweden that it works," says Gunilla Glasare.
She states that there are currently eleven emergency airports in Sweden.
TT: Why are more needed?
”"During the summer of fires, it was very important that the planes that extinguished the fires could land. There can be different types of crises, right now it is primarily ambulance flights, but other things can happen that make you want to be able to reach the country around the clock."”
”"Without financial support from the state, there is a great risk that several regions could soon be without functioning airports," writes SKR, but cannot point out which regions are at risk of this.
In early April, the government decided to introduce a temporary public service obligation on a number of flight routes from Norrbotten, Jämtland, Västerbotten, Västernorrland and Gotland. SKR views this positively, but believes that it is not enough to save the regional airports.
TT has been in contact with the press secretary of Infrastructure Minister Tomas Eneroth (S), who says that the request recently came to the government, and that the minister wants to wait and comment on it.
Source: TT
