Norway’s Traffic Climbs Higher

Almost 3.7 million traveled to, from or via Avinor’s airports in April 2022—an increase of 349% compared with the same month last year.

The group, which manages a network of 43 airports across Norway, said the growth was largely thanks to the recovery of international air traffic. The figure for last month also represented a recovery of 87% compared with April 2019.

“We are seeing a clear upswing in our traffic figures, both in terms of the number of passengers and in terms of the number of air transport movements, and we believe this has a positive impact on jobs connected to our airports, and on businesses throughout Norway that rely on visitors as a whole,” said Gaute Skallerud Riise, VP of traffic development at Avinor.

The number of commercial air transport movements increased from 29,100 to 50,917 in April 2022, which is equivalent to an increase in 75% compared with April 2021. Compared to April 2019, there were 3% fewer air transport movements.

The number of passengers traveling to and from international destinations at Avinor’s airports rose from 65,180 passengers in 2021 to 1,315,930 in April 2022. This equates to an increase of 1,919%. Compared to 2019 figures, 27% fewer passengers traveled.

At Oslo (OSL), April domestic traffic increased by 330% year on year to 856,131, while international traffic jumped by 1,951% to 992,255. Commercial air transport movements rose 190% to total 16,668 over the same period.

“We are very satisfied with the fact that Avinor’s traffic figures are climbing,” VisitOSLO CEO Christian Lunde said. “It is vital that Oslo has a strong route network operating out of Oslo Airport.

“Businesses reliant on travel and tourism in Oslo are currently experiencing high levels of activity, and we are embarking on the summer season with renewed optimism and motivation,” Lunde added.

At Bergen (BGO), which hosts Routes Europe 2022 this week, domestic traffic rose by 164% in April 2022 to 323,359 passengers, compared with 12 months ago, while international traffic was up by 1,531% to 144,256 over the same period. Stavanger (SVG) and Trondheim (TRD) also reported similar gains.

The rise in April came after Avinor reported a year-on-year increase of 198% in the number of passengers in the first quarter of 2022. The group handled 7.4 million passengers over the three months of 2022.