Swedavia’s traffic statistics for December and the full-year 2022
Air travel in 2022 was characterised by a strong recovery in both air travel and Swedish connectivity, with a sharp increase in the number of destinations from Swedavia’s airports. Despite a weak start to the year due to the Omicron variant and other global concerns, Swedavia welcomed nearly 28 million passengers in 2022 – an increase of more than 130 per cent – compared to nearly 12 million passengers in 2021. The year ended on a strong note, especially at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, which in December posted its best passenger numbers for a single month since the start of the pandemic. Luleå Airport had the best performance for the month, with passenger volumes there exceeding pre-pandemic levels. The economy, the pandemic situation and other external factors have so far not affected demand to any great extent, but contribute to an uncertain market outlook going forward.
A total of nearly 28 million passengers flew via Swedavia’s ten airports in 2022, which corresponds to an increase of over 130 per cent, compared to 12 million passengers in 2021, but that is still about 70 per cent of the levels before the pandemic in 2019. The passenger trend was mostly driven by strong demand for international flights at Stockholm Arlanda. More than 20 million people flew internationally, mainly to and from European destinations. In December alone, there were nearly 2.3 million passengers, an increase of over 40 per cent compared to 2021 and nearly 80 per cent of the volume in 2019.
Swedavia’s airports served 309 destinations in 2022, which means that a large share of the loss of destinations as a result of the pandemic has been recovered, especially at Arlanda. The number of destinations on offer corresponds to over 80 per cent of the total before the pandemic in 2019, while Arlanda has more than 90 per cent of the pre-pandemic number of destinations in 2019. In 2022, Arlanda added nearly 50 new destinations.
A number of Swedavia’s regional airports were also able to enhance connectivity during the year. Luleå Airport in particular expanded international connectivity, with three new direct international routes launched in December, including to London and Paris.
New routes in January this year are Valencia with Ryanair, Innsbruck with Eurowings, and Lyon with Norwegian. All of these routes are from Stockholm Arlanda. Later this spring, SAS will launch non-stop service to New York from Göteborg Landvetter, while Air Serbia will launch non-stop service to Belgrade.
Stockholm Arlanda Airport had more than 18 million passengers for the full-year 2022, an increase of nearly 150 per cent compared to 2021 and nearly 75 per cent of its pre-pandemic-volume in 2019. In December alone, there were 1.5 million passengers, an increase of nearly 50 per cent compared to 2021 and nearly 85 per cent of the passenger volume in 2019.
London was the top international destination in December at Arlanda, followed by Copenhagen and Oslo, while Copenhagen was the top destination for the year. Among non-European destinations, Chicago had the strongest growth, followed by New York.
Göteborg Landvetter Airport had a total of more than 4.4 million passengers in 2022, an increase of over 130 per cent compared to 2021 and nearly 70 per cent of the volume in 2019. In December, the airport had nearly 340,000 passengers, an increase of nearly 40 per cent compared to 2021. The top international destinations for the year were Frankfurt and Amsterdam, while London was the top destination during the month of December. Copenhagen had the strongest growth during the year, followed by London, Munich and Oslo.
Malmö Airport had nearly 1.3 million passengers in 2022, numbers nearly doubling compared to 2021. In December, the airport had nearly 100,000 passengers, an increase of nearly 20 per cent compared to 2021 and about 70 per cent of passenger volume in 2019.
The air travel trend at Swedavia’s six regional airports varied in 2022. In 2022, Luleå Airport continued to have the strongest growth among the regional airports. With nearly 90,000 passengers in December, the airport had higher volume than before the pandemic in 2019.