Air travel is decreasing in Sweden. During the first quarter, 378,000 fewer passengers flew from Swedish airports compared to the same period last year. The number of takeoffs and landings is also decreasing.
The Swedish Transport Agency cannot point to any clear explanation for why fewer people choose to fly.
– We saw stagnation in air traffic in 2018 and it continues in the first quarter of this year, says Jean-Marie Skoglund, expert at the Swedish Transport Agency.
For almost ten years, air travel has been increasing steadily. Just over 31 million passengers flew in 2009, last year it was more than 39 million. And the number of passengers flying abroad has more than doubled since 2003, from just over 15 million to 33 million. But now the trend has reversed. In the first quarter of 2019, the number of passengers decreased by 4.5 percent compared to the same period last year, according to figures from the Swedish Transport Agency.
– If we look at Arlanda, there is a clear reduction, 200,000 fewer passengers, says Jean-Marie Skoglund.
Trend break
The quarterly figures may be associated with a certain amount of uncertainty, but the figures are in line with the development in 2018, where the increase in flying was significantly lower than the previous year. In previous years, flying has increased by five to nine percent per year, but last year the increase was only just over two percent. And domestic flights decreased by over three percent.
– It is still the case that we have a decrease. And if we compare it with the Nordic airports, it is Arlanda that has the lowest growth, says Skoglund.
More factors come into play
It's not the first time that fewer people are choosing to fly. During the 2008 financial crisis, air travel decreased, and the same thing happened after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. But according to Jean-Marie Skoglund, there is no clear explanation for why air travel is decreasing now.
– It is much more difficult to explain why we are seeing a decline now, because we do not see a threat like we have seen before when air traffic decreased, he says.
According to Skoglund, flying is a good measure of how the economy will develop. The fact that flying is decreasing may therefore indicate stagnation in the economy. Another explanation may be that in 2018 there were more bankruptcies among airlines, and other companies reduced capacity. Skoglund also believes that the aviation tax may be an explanation for fewer people flying.
“Then we also have an environmental awareness that means people may value their travels differently than they did ten years ago. They may choose other means of transport,” he says.
Source: TT
Air passengers per year
Year Number of passengers
2019 (Jan-March 8,108,387)
2018 39,305,116
2017 38,878,418
2016 36 3517 69
2015 34,441,308
2014 33,202,904
2013 31,845,331
Source: Swedish Transport Agency
