Serneke Group AB takes over Göteborg City Airport

“It feels good that we have an agreement in place that ensures the continued possibility of public service flights and general aviation and that provides potential to develop the area for the future,” says Charlotte Ljunggren, airport director at Göteborg Landvetter Airport, which has been Swedavia’s representative in the transaction.

Since August 2015, Swedavia and Serneke have had a letter of intent for the takeover of Göteborg City Airport. In the agreement now completed, the buyer pledges to carry out operations at Göteborg City Airport in a way that enables aviation operations to continue serving the national emergency call system (in which emergencies are reported by dialling 112) for at least a fifteen-year period at the airport.

Similarly, the buyer pledges to ensure the possibility of operating an airport for general aviation that does not need landing runways longer than 1,000 metres for at least a five-year period.

The company that operates Göteborg City Airport was previously owned jointly by Swedavia, the City of Gothenburg and Volvo. In October 2014, major defects in the bearing capacity of parts of the runway system were detected, which meant it could not be used for heavy commercial traffic. The airlines Ryanair, Wizzair and Gotlandsflyg moved their traffic to Göteborg Landvetter Airport in December 2014.

Studies showed that measures to remedy the bearing capacity problems required major investment. Swedavia and the other owners decided that the conditions needed to make such an investment were lacking. Swedavia then decided to exercise its right to take over Volvo’s and the City of Gothenburg’s holdings in the operating company and then look for stakeholders who could take over the airport, including the airport property previously owned by Swedavia.

“Swedavia has been given the task by the Swedish State to own and operate ten airports in Sweden to ensure good air access throughout the country. In western Sweden, Göteborg Landvetter Airport will be the airport that ensures air access. This agreement between Serneke Group AB and Swedavia is the final stage of a process aimed at winding up our involvement at Göteborg City Airport,” Ms Ljunggren notes.

“The fact that we could do this while ensuring the continued possibility of aviation operations and that the majority of the labour force at Göteborg City Airport has jobs feels good,” she adds.