Nearly three million passengers travelled through Swedavia’s 10 airports in May, marking a modest one per cent decrease compared with the same month in 2024.
While international travel remained steady year-on-year, domestic travel continued to decline — particularly in southern Sweden.
The Swedish airport operator reported that 2.2 million passengers passed through Stockholm Arlanda, the country’s largest airport, during the month — a one per cent increase on last year and now 97% of pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
International traffic at Arlanda totalled 1.8 million, while domestic travel surged 24% to over 378,000 passengers.
In contrast, Gothenburg Landvetter Airport, Sweden’s second largest, recorded just over 483,000 passengers — down two per cent on May 2024.
International travel fell three per cent to just under 431,000, while domestic travel held steady at just over 51,000 passengers. Overall, Landvetter reached 80% of 2019’s passenger levels.
The performance of Swedavia’s regional airports was mixed. Luleå Airport posted the strongest growth with a five per cent increase in passengers, followed by Åre Östersund Airport (up 4%) and Umeå Airport (up 1%).
However, other airports saw notable declines, with Kiruna Airport down 4%, Malmö Airport down 8%, and Visby and Ronneby recording drops of 19% and 16% respectively.
The most dramatic fall came at Bromma Stockholm Airport, where traffic plummeted by 99% compared to May 2024.
Swedavia attributed this to airlines shifting nearly all of Stockholm’s flights to Arlanda earlier in the year.
Despite the slight downturn in overall figures, Swedavia is optimistic about the summer season.
A total of 21 new routes are being launched across the network, with 15 new services from Arlanda alone — including destinations such as Sarajevo, Beirut, Reykjavik and Cagliari.
New airlines Animawings and AJet have also begun operating from Arlanda, flying to Bucharest and Istanbul, respectively.
Landvetter will see six new routes this summer, including flights to Thessaloniki, Milan, Corfu and Dubrovnik.
Meanwhile, North American connectivity will resume, with United Airlines and Air Canada reinstating summer services to New York and Toronto.
They will join Delta and SAS, which are also serving the New York route.
Overall, Swedavia said May’s figures represented 83% of 2019 levels, underscoring the aviation sector’s gradual recovery, even as domestic travel continues to face headwinds.
