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Air traffic down 4.2 percent in September: Avinor

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A total of just less than 3.5 million passengers travelled through Avinor's airports in September, a decline of 4.2 percent compared to September last year. International traffic dropped by 7.3 percent, while domestic traffic dropped by 2.4 percent.

"The significant decline in passenger development has continued, but the decline seems to be lessening from month to month. The decline in international traffic started in October last year when the impact of the financial crises fully struck. The current trend is a slightly weaker decline than in previous months. The same development is apparent internationally, but it is too early to draw any conclusions with respect to long-term developments," says Ove Narvesen, Director of Public Affairs and Communications with Avinor.

The passenger figures in the international market dropped by 12 percent during the first four months of the year. During the next four months the drop was eight percent. The decline in domestic traffic started as early as the spring of 2008. This was primarily linked to high oil prices, which led to higher ticket prices. Domestic passenger figures have displayed a slowing negative trend for approximately a year. Viewed in a longer perspective, domestic traffic in Norway has been fairly stable: "A recent travel survey carried out the Institute of Transport Economics on behalf of Avinor showed that domestic traffic in the first four months of the year was at the same level as during the first four months of 2007," says Ove Narvesen.

Domestic passenger figures dropped approximately six percent during the first four months compared to the same period last year. During the nest four months the figure was a decline of two percent. Avinor's largest airport, Oslo Airport Gardermoen, experienced a decline of 5 percent in passenger figures in September compared to the same month last year, whereof 6.7 was in international traffic and 3.1 percent in domestic traffic. Of the other major airports, Bergen Airport Flesland recorded a decline in traffic of 7.6 percent, while the declines at Stavanger Airport Sola and Trondheim Airport Værnes were 4 and 2.8 percent respectively. Bodø Airport saw growth in traffic of 3.2 percent, while Tromsø Airport Langnes saw growth of 0.3 percent.

Amongst the medium-sized airports the decline is an average of 3.6 percent. However, some airports such as Haugesund Airport Karmøy and Molde Airport Årø experienced increased traffic of 9.7 and 11.1 percent respectively. This is due to the introduction of competition on both of these airports' most important routes, the route to Oslo. Traffic at regional airports is more or less stable. The number of aircraft movements dropped by 4.9 percent in September compared to the same month last year. A total of approximately 28.5 million passengers have travelled through one of Avinor's airports so far this year. This is a decline of 6 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.