New monthly record shows Sweden’s passenger traffic getting back on track

More than 2.6 million passengers passed through Sweden’s airports in May – the highest monthly total since the start of the pandemic.

Airport operator, Swedavia, notes that the strong growth was driven mainly by an increase in international travel, especially at Stockholm Arlanda, “where air travel has increased sharply within a short period of time”.

Compared to the start of the year, both January as well as February, the airport handled one million more passengers in May, and overall passenger volume reached the highest level since December 2019.

Swedavia continues to expand its operations at Arlanda in order to meet the strong increase in travel and a number of important launches of service in June, including new direct routes to Toronto and New York.

On June 15, Terminal 4 will be placed in service and another security checkpoint will be in operation.

“May is generally a big travel month, and Arlanda had a number of the most travel-intensive days at our airports so far since the start of the pandemic. The strong recovery continued both in European and domestic travel, and traffic is now increasing week after week,” enthuses Swedavia’s president and CEO, Jonas Abrahamsson.

“As a result of the pandemic, there is a pent-up need to travel to meet friends and family and to take a holiday. Airlines’ continued investments in the improved range of routes on offer are further driving this growth.

“In June, there will be a number of major service launches, both to North America and Europe.”

The strong demand for air travel is thus expected to continue in June and, combined with a number of launches, will contribute to increased growth in passenger volume.

Starting in June, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) will launch a brand-new route to Toronto, Canada. US carrier, Delta Air Lines, is returning to Arlanda with service to New York, and Nile Air will launch service to Cairo. Another 16 European routes from Arlanda and three from Göteborg Landvetter will also be launched.

“We are carrying out a number of extraordinary measures to boost staffing and increase the rate of flow at our security checkpoints at Arlanda in order to meet the continued strong passenger growth,” notes Abrahamsson.

“This, together with the opening of Terminal 4 and an additional security checkpoint on June 15, will have an effect, but with a continued rise in passenger volumes there will nevertheless be a risk of longer queues than normal at Arlanda at times.

“At our nine other airports, the queuing situation is normal for the season.”