International flights are back – but domestic traffic remains only half of 2019 levels

Almost 2.94 million travellers flew abroad via Swedavia’s ten airports in July – virtually unchanged compared with July 2019. The international recovery is therefore largely complete.

The trend for domestic aviation is considerably weaker. The number of domestic travellers amounted to just under 420,000, representing a decline of 50 per cent compared with before the pandemic.

Stockholm Arlanda continues to drive the trend. The airport had 2.47 million travellers in July, just 1 per cent fewer than in 2019. International traffic is 3 per cent above the 2019 level, while domestic traffic is still 32 per cent lower.

Gothenburg Landvetter shows a similar trend, albeit at a lower level. Overall, the airport is 9 per cent below July 2019. International traffic has almost recovered, while domestic travel is still 70 per cent lower than before the pandemic.

For several regional airports, the recovery is considerably weaker. Malmö Airport had 48 per cent fewer travellers than in July 2019, Luleå Airport was 23 per cent below and Ronneby Airport 71 per cent below.

July therefore became another month confirming that the Swedish aviation market has changed since the pandemic. While demand for international travel is back at previous levels, domestic aviation is still a long way from the traffic seen in the summer of 2019.