Swedavia’s traffic statistics for September 2021

"We note that there are a number of positive signs of a recovery in air travel, although the pace decelerated somewhat in September. With restrictions now being eased and countries opening up to a greater extent than before, conditions are created for an acceleration in the recovery during the autumn. Naturally, the EU digital COVID certificate is also an important contributing factor that makes travel easier in Europe," says Jonas Abrahamsson, Swedavia's president and CEO.

"In this situation, it is of course very positive that a number of airlines have chosen to invest in improved access to and from Sweden. In a short time, we have been able to announce a number of major operations that airlines are launching Arlanda. In view of the increase in travel, we have also decided to open another terminal at Arlanda at the end of the month. We will also keep our safety measures in place at our airports until further notice, in line with the aviation industry and our international commitments," notes Jonas Abrahamsson.

In the near term, for example, three airlines will start up major operations, with each establishing a base and new routes via Arlanda. Finnair will launch long haul service to Thailand and the US from Arlanda starting in late October, Ryanair will launch 23 routes to elsewhere in Europe starting at the end of October, and Eurowings has also decided to launch about 20 direct routes to Europe via Arlanda in spring 2022.

Of the more than 1.4 million passengers in September, more than 970,000 were international passengers and 466,000 were domestic passengers, which corresponds to a decrease of 62 per cent in international travel and 59 per cent in domestic travel compared to September 2019, before the pandemic. All in all, air travel in September increased 124 per cent compared to September last year.

At Stockholm Arlanda Airport, Sweden's largest airport, air travel decreased 62 per cent to 886,000 passengers in September compared to September 2019. International travel decreased 63 per cent, while the decline in domestic travel was 59 per cent. Compared to September 2020, which was also strongly affected by the pandemic, passenger volume increased 120 per cent.

Göteborg Landvetter Airport had a total of nearly 247,000 passengers in September, a decrease of 61 per cent compared to September 2019. International travel decreased 59 per cent, while domestic travel decreased 71 per cent. Compared to September last year, passenger volume increased a total of 160 per cent.

Bromma Stockholm Airport had more than 83,000 passengers in September, which is a decrease of 60 per cent compared to September 2019. At Swedavia's seven regional airports, the decrease in passenger volume was between 41 per cent and 69 per cent. All of the regional airports also had a far better passenger trend in September compared to the preceding months and to the same month in 2020.

Air travel at Swedavia's ten airports has decreased by a total of more than 51 million passengers since the start of the pandemic 19 months ago.