Passenger numbers at Swedavia’s airports have dropped 4% compared to 2018 figures, in a year that has seen flygskam or ‘flight-shaming’ growing in Sweden.
More than 40 million passengers flew to or from the operator’s ten airports in 2019, a 4% decrease compared to the record figures seen in 2018 of more than 42 million passengers.
Swedavia reported that the decrease was primarily in domestic travel with the number of domestic passengers totalling 12.4 million (a 9% decrease compared to 2018). The number of international passengers decreased to a lesser extent by 2% to nearly 28 million. However international traffic increased at a number of the airports and notably at Göteborg Landvetter Airport.
Stockholm Arlanda Airport had more than 25.6 million passengers in 2019, a 4% decrease compared to the previous year. International travel decreased 4% and domestic travel decreased 8%.
At Göteborg Landvetter Airport passenger figures decreased by a total of 2% compared to 2018 to nearly 6.7 million, though international traffic continued to grow to nearly 5.5 million passengers.
Bromma Stockholm saw passenger figures totalling 2,352,517 (a decrease of 6%), while Luleå saw a 3% decrease to 1,162,314.
Ronneby saw a 9% decrease (with 204,678 passengers) while Malmö recorded passenger figures of 1,975,479, a decrease of 8%, and Åre Östersund also saw passenger figures drop 8% over the previous year, with numbers totalling 473,497.
Umeå saw 960,351 passengers – a decrease of 7% – while Visby recorded passenger numbers of 446,764 (a decrease of 5%). Kiruna Airport saw 267,941 passengers, a decrease of 3% over the year before.
In December nearly 2.9 million passengers flew to or from Swedavia’s airports, a decrease of 4% compared to the same period in 2018, which the airport operator said is in line with the trend for the year. International traffic decreased 2% during the month, while domestic traffic decreased 7% compared to December 2018.
Reporting the passenger figures for the year across the airports, Swedavia commented: “For many years, Swedavia has carried out ambitious sustainability work. All ten of its airports shall have zero emissions of fossil carbon dioxide from their own operations by 2020.
“Swedavia also works actively to promote the industry’s transition to bio fuel and has the goal that five per cent of all fuel used to refuel aircraft at Swedish airports shall be fossil-free by 2025. Since 2016, Swedavia buys bio jet fuel equivalent to the amount the company uses on flights for business purposes, about 450 tonnes of fuel a year.”
