Sweden’s skies are filling up with international travellers once more. State-owned airport operator Swedavia’s preliminary traffic figures for September show a three-percent year-on-year increase in passengers on foreign routes, while domestic traffic remained flat. Combined, the company’s ten airports handled just over three million passengers—an overall gain of two percent versus September 2024, but still 16 percent below pre-pandemic volumes.
The rebound is being led by Stockholm Arlanda, the country’s largest gateway. Arlanda alone grew seven percent last month, lifting both its European and intercontinental segments as well as a modest uptick in domestic lift. Regional hubs Göteborg Landvetter and Luleå also contributed to the positive trend, whereas smaller airports such as Visby and Ronneby saw traffic levels unchanged.
“September’s figures confirm that Swedish travellers are eager to reconnect with the world, and that inbound interest is returning,” said Swedavia CEO Jonas Abrahamsson. “We are, however, mindful that total volumes still lag 2019 by a sixth, illustrating the long road back to a fully restored network.”
Capacity creep rather than fare wars appears to be driving the growth. Airlines have reinstated 2.4 percent more seats on international routes to and from Swedavia airports compared with last autumn, according to schedule data from OAG. Load factors have held steady at around 81 percent, suggesting demand is absorbing the new supply without heavy discounting.
Cargo tells a different story. Freight tonne-kilometres across Swedavia’s network slipped one percent year-on-year, reflecting softer Scandinavian export volumes and a shift of Asia-bound goods to Copenhagen and Hamburg. Even so, dedicated freighter movements are up 11 percent as logistics firms add weekend lifts to offset belly-hold constraints.
Sustainability pressure is intensifying. The Swedish government’s aviation tax rose on 1 April, and the EU’s jet-fuel blending mandate will tighten again in 2026. Swedavia counters that it has now secured “green” fuel agreements covering 12 percent of all uplifted volumes at Arlanda this winter, compared with eight percent a year ago. “Every additional passenger we can shift onto sustainable aviation fuel accelerates our path to net-zero,” Abrahamsson noted.
Looking ahead, the company expects October-December traffic to grow “low single digits” year-on-year, barring macro shocks. Winter schedules filed so far show a four-percent rise in international seat capacity, led by leisure routes to the Canary Islands, Thailand and the alpine ski markets.
For Nordic business travellers, the message is clear: more choice is back, but the pre-COVID baseline remains a milestone, not the new normal.