Air taxes, increased fuel prices, and increased airport fees are pushing the aviation industry. In addition, the ongoing climate debate seems to have prompted more Swedes to opt out of domestic flights.

Domestic travel in Sweden amounted to 1,125,000 travelers in September, a decrease of five percent compared to the same month last year, according to figures from Swedavia.

So far this year, domestic traffic has fallen by eight percent at Swedavia's airports. This means that the share of domestic travelers has slipped to the lowest level since the financial crisis.

At the same time, the airline SAS went against the trend in September. In the three Scandinavian countries where the company operates (Sweden, Denmark and Norway), demand for domestic travel, measured in passenger kilometers, increased by 6.3 per cent. This is stated in the company's monthly figures.

- During the year, we saw a certain slowdown in demand periodically, but in September it increased in comparison with last year. It is difficult to say what this is due to, but we work a lot with sustainability and the opportunity to buy biofuel, it can affect the passengers' choice of flights, says Freja Annamatz, SAS Sweden's Press Manager.

In other Scandinavian countries, the same trend is observed with reduced domestic travel. In Denmark, total domestic travel has gone down by 7 percent so far this year, compared with last year, and the number of passengers is down to the lowest level in 14 years, reports the industry magazine Check-in.dk.

Adapts

The airline BRA has adapted to the increased demands of travelers. In order to avoid too few passengers and poor profitability, the company constantly reviews which lines are profitable. For example, it was recently decided that the Jönköping-Stockholm line should be closed.

At Bromma Airport, where BRA is the only domestic airline, the number of passengers decreased by two percent in 2018.

According to Jim Hofverberg, Head of Communications, there are a number of factors behind reducing domestic travel.

- To some extent, this is due to somewhat more expensive ticket prices driven by increased costs for the airlines - more expensive aviation fuel prices, the weak Swedish krona and the government's new air tax.

Affects employees

The ongoing climate debate is also highlighted as a contributing factor.

- The debate has long focused on air travel and emissions. A greater grip has been required, and we are now phasing out our large jet aircraft to find other solutions. Unfortunately, those who fly and work with the jet aircraft are unfortunately affected.

The company will to a greater extent fly with climate-less propeller aircraft that are smaller in size. In connection with this, a total of 363 people have been notified by the company's just over 1,000 employees.

- Nobody has left BRA, but it will be done gradually from November until the second quarter of next year, says Jim Hofverberg.