The coronavirus pandemic is putting airports under severe pressure. According to the Swedish Transport Agency's passenger forecast, covering the years 2020-2026, a decrease in the number of passengers at Swedish airports by 74 percent is predicted for 2020.

Camilla Leijon, CEO of Linköping Airport, likens the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic to ball sports.

– The uncertainty is like playing volleyball all the time and constantly hitting the ball into the goal, she tells SVT Nyheter Öst.

Only one departure per day

Currently, there is one departure per day from Linköping Airport. For a short period, the airport was able to handle up to two flights, but as the spread of infection picked up pace again, they have now gone back down to one flight per day.

– We started losing passengers in March, and on 21 March KLM cancelled its flights from us. Then it was out of service until 3 August when they restarted with one flight per day. We had two flights in September but are back to one flight now, says Camilla Lejon.

At the same time, she says that the number of passengers has increased recently.  

– To begin with, we could only have 20 passengers on board, now we have an average of 40 passengers, and on some flights up to 70, she says.

”Difficult to plan and forces us to adapt”

Staff at Linköping Airport have been placed on short-term furloughs to a greater or lesser extent, and adjustments are constantly being made.

– Uncertainty is something we've had to learn to live with, says Camilla Lejon.

According to the Swedish Transport Agency, air traffic will not have recovered to the same levels as before the pandemic by 2026. However, Camilla Lejon sees a slightly brighter picture for Linköping Airport. 

– I think we will recover faster than average, says Camilla Lejon.

Source: svt.se