Swedish airport operator, Swedavia, recorded nearly 1.7 million passengers travelling through its ten airports for the month of October, 2021. While the figure is half the number compared to October 2019, the recovery in air travel accelerated during the month, with passenger numbers reaching their highest level since the beginning of the pandemic.

The easing of travel restrictions in the US and Thailand (both popular destinations for Swedes) paved the way for increased international travel and the transport of goods. And the positive trend for increased passenger traffic has continued in November with new airline investments and air links.

“The recovery in aviation continued in October and accelerated with the easing of restrictions and an expanded offering for air routes from our airports,” noted Jonas Abrahamsson, Swedavia’s President and CEO. “To handle the increase in air travel and growing number of passengers, we have now placed another terminal in service at Stockholm Arlanda,” he continued.

“After a long time with the pandemic, there is now pent-up demand for travel, especially to visit relatives and family. Naturally, it is tremendously positive that more and more airlines are choosing to invest in new traffic at our airports, not just for all travellers but also for important goods transports for trade and industry, given the great shortage of and great demand for good transports all across the globe.”

Of the nearly 1.7 million passengers that flew via Swedavia’s airports in October, 1,136,000 were international and 552,000 were domestic, which corresponds to a 52% decrease in both international and domestic travel compared to pre-crisis levels (October 2019).

However, air travel in October overall increased 127% compared to October 2020. At Swedavia’s seven regional airports, the decrease in passenger volumes was between 36% and 60% for a total of more than 252,000 passengers. All of the regional airports also had a better passenger trend in October compared to the preceding months and to the same month last year.

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