The Corona crisis could change the playing field for Nordic airlines – while aviation in Sweden appears to be recovering more slowly than in other countries, according to analysts.
It has been a turbulent spring for airlines SAS, Norwegian and BRA, as the coronavirus pandemic has turned the industry upside down. Globally, there is now a beginning of an upturn, according to several analysts and statistics from Flightradar24, among others.
But for the Swedish market, the recovery may take longer than the rest of Europe, according to Jean-Marie Skoglund, analyst at the Swedish Transport Agency.
”"What is most interesting right now is that the development of air traffic is progressing quite quickly. But everything still depends on how the spread of the infection progresses," he says and continues:
”"When it comes to Sweden, we see that recovery is not going as quickly as in the rest of Europe. One explanation for this may be that we could already see a decline in air traffic in the autumn of 2017 as a result of an economic slowdown and increased public opinion linked to 'flight shame'," he says.
This in turn means that the recovery of air traffic in Sweden will be slower compared to, for example, our neighboring countries.
But that's not the only change that could be coming.
In the wake of the crisis, the playing field may begin to be redrawn in both global and regional markets. In Sweden, the company Air Leap has established itself at Bromma Airport with a number of destinations that other airlines previously operated at.
The airline BRA, which previously flew a lot from Bromma, has been undergoing a reconstruction since the spring.
”"When BRA is back, the question remains whether there is a market for both companies. It will be an extremely interesting development of the market in Sweden, not least to see how SAS recovers and how Norwegian will act," says Jean-Marie Skoglund.
But airlines are far from alone in being hit by the crisis. Airport companies are also being shaken up when air traffic drops. Norwegian airport company Avinor had a decrease of just under 60 percent and Finnish airport company Finnavia showed a decrease of just over 50 percent for the period January to June. This can be compared to Swedavia having a decrease of just under 65 percent for the same period.
”"We also see that regional airports have been significantly affected by the pandemic. In the second quarter of 2020, 10 out of 39 airports showed a 100 percent decrease and eight airports showed a decrease of around 99 percent compared to the second quarter of 2019.".
The number of departing passengers at Swedish airports during the second quarter of this year amounted to 281,000. This can be compared with the 10.2 million passengers who flew from Swedish airports during the same quarter last year.
”"This shows how the pandemic has affected air traffic. I have never seen such a decline in air traffic as this," says Jean-Marie Skoglund.
