Over 5 million passengers in August

Oslo Airport, Bergen Airport and Stavanger Airport particularly contributed to the growth in air traffic in August. These airports all experienced a 5 percent increase in the volume of passengers. The airports in Tromsø (5 percent), Ålesund and Alta (both 8 percent) also showed an increase.

“We are noting that the trend is continuing with growth to destinations other than the more traditional Southern European destinations. 33 percent more passengers travelled to Turkey than during the same month last year and the increase to Croatia was 5 percent,” says Jasper Spruit, Vice President Traffic Development at Avinor.

Traffic to Spain has continued to decline (7 percent), while traffic to France has increased by as much as 17 percent.

“The growth in traffic to France is driven almost entirely by traffic to Paris from Bergen and Oslo, which has seen a total growth of 46 percent,” explains Spruit.

Norwegian has moved its Paris route from Orly to Charles de Gaulle and doubled the capacity. Air Frances’s investment in the JOON concept has also proved successful on the routes to Oslo and Bergen. We are seeing an increasing proportion of French passengers on the routes from Paris, particularly within the youth segment at which JOON is directed.

Securing economic growth in Norway
There are also several smaller destinations that have seen good growth in the traffic figures in August. This particularly applies to Lithuania with an increase of as much as 75 percent, Estonia by 31 percent and Hungary by 13 percent.

“The emergence of more destinations contributes to increased value creation for Norway. More foreigners are visiting Norway as tourists and to run businesses and several Norwegians travel abroad on holiday. This secures jobs and economic growth in Norway,” says Spruit.

For the two largest airlines in Norway, the figures are also good. Both Norwegian and SAS can show a 4 percent increase in the number of passengers in August, compared to the same month last year.

“It is particularly pleasing to see the traffic between Oslo and Stavanger increase by 15 percent, says Spruit.

“The increased growth on the route between Oslo and Stavanger is linked to the recovery in the oil sector. In August, offshore helicopter traffic increased by 18 percent. The major ONS exhibition in Stavanger, attracting 68,000 guests from 98 countries, also significantly contributed to the growth. International business routes such as Oslo-Stockholm have experienced as much as 11 percent growth.

Positive freight figures in July
July was a good month for airfreight, with a growth of 7 percent. This makes July the year’s third best month, only beaten by June (11.2 percent) and February (10.1 percent).

“It is the element of pure airfreight that makes the greatest contribution to growth in freight and is largely driven by new companies such as Atlas Air and West Atlantic UK,” says Martin Langaas, Director of Cargo at Avinor.

Important for the Norwegian seafood industry
In terms of volume, it is international traffic that has increased most although domestic traffic has increased most in percentage terms. DHL, Ampola Flyg and Norwegian have contributed most to domestic growth.

“It is very pleasing to see that our investment in airfreight has yielded results and that Oslo Airport is Northern Europe’s largest airport for airfreight.

The fact that Avinor facilitates good logistics and attractive cargo routes means a great deal to the Norwegian seafood industry, which is able to export its goods quickly and efficiently to the global markets, ensuring product quality and a stable and secure operation,” concludes Langaas.