A majority in the Riksdag wants to deprive the government of power over which airports are to be considered the most important in the country.
This opens the way for the Riksdag to prevent the government from winding down Bromma prematurely.
”"I expect the government to come out and say that it has now understood that a majority in the Riksdag does not want to close Bromma prematurely and that all such plans are therefore being put aside," says Maria Stockhaus, traffic policy spokesperson for the Moderates, to TT.
It was last month that M brought forward the initiative that, simply put, the Riksdag should deprive the government of power over the so-called basic supply of airports in Sweden. The four bourgeois parties and the Sweden Democrats are behind the initiative and have a majority in the transport committee.
The basic offer includes airports such as Arlanda, Bromma and Landvetter and seven additional airports. Now it is the government that decides which ones will be included in the basic offer. A prerequisite for phasing out Bromma prematurely is that the government removes it from the basic offer. Only then would the state-owned Swedavia be able to initiate a phasing-out.
The proposal for an announcement to the government from the Riksdag and its Transport Committee states that the government must ask the Riksdag for approval first, before making changes to the national basic offer. A decision on the announcement could be made this autumn.
”It should be dealt with urgently given how the government has acted,” says Maria Stockhaus.
She is referring to the government's surprise announcement this spring that it wants to close Bromma early and move operations and traffic to Arlanda. Environmentalists celebrated with cake, which did not go down well with the opposition in parliament.
A majority in the Riksdag once again stated that the government should hold back and wait with a decisive decision on Bromma, which has been of particular importance for domestic traffic in a number of locations. But Minister of Infrastructure Tomas Eneroth (S) had an investigator analyze and make proposals for how an orderly closure of Bromma could be carried out. On the last day of August, investigator Magnus Persson submitted his proposals. The investigation is now out for consultation.
Magnus Persson assessed that the government and parliament could decide sometime next year on how the phase-out could proceed and that it could be completed sometime in 2025–2027.
In support of closing Bromma, the government has pointed to an analysis by Swedavia that it would not be commercially justified to continue operating Bromma. In addition, according to the company, there are conditions for consolidating traffic at Arlanda.
The opposition has objected that it is the wrong time to make irreversible decisions about Bromma without knowing when, if and how quickly air traffic and travel can recover from the collapse during the pandemic. Traffic is still at a level that is 60 percent of the pre-pandemic level.
Left Party member Jens Holm is chairman of the traffic committee. He thinks it is high time to dismantle Bromma.
”"We think it should be closed down. The big weakness in the initiative from the majority is that it does not address how Bromma should be financed. Bromma will be at a loss for the foreseeable future," says Holm.
”"If you take an initiative like this, you have to be clear that you want to subsidize Bromma with several hundred million every year. If people were to hear that, they would realize the illogicality of having two airports in Stockholm."”
Source: TT
