New non-stop route Stockholm – Los Angeles announced today

- Connectivity to the United States west coast is vital for business exchange between the countries. Today's announcement is very positive for Swedish competitiveness and it´s also a significant confirmation of the developments at Stockholm Arlanda Airport in order to become Scandinavia's leading airport, says Torborg Chetkovich, group CEO of Swedavia.

Since 2013, the growth of intercontinental direct routes at Stockholm Arlanda Airport has been very strong. With today's announcement from SAS, a total number of 13 routes have been added, which represents a growth of almost 70 percent.

Over a million passengers travel between Sweden and the United States annually. The growth of passenger volumes over the last year amounted to 36 percent. Including the new Los Angeles route, travellers flying from Stockholm can now choose from ten different direct connections to seven destinations in the United States.

SAS will service the route seven days per week during the summer and five to six times during the winter program.

As part of developing Scandinavia's leading airport, Swedavia will invest 13 billion SEK over the next three years to ensure and develop Sweden’s connectivity via Stockholm Arlanda Airport. In the first phase, until year 2020, seven billion SEK will be invested in new terminal capacity adapted for larger aircraft models used for intercontinental flights. In order to facilitate travelling between the United States and Sweden, Stockholm Arlanda Airport has also been selected for US border control prior to departure, so-called US preclearance. Assuming approval from the Swedish and the United States authorities, US preclearance could be in operation in 2017.