Passenger collapse in aviation

The number of passengers at Norwegian airports fell by 85 percent in the second quarter of this year, compared with the same period last year.

Only 2.3 million passengers flew in Norway in April, May and June, compared with 15.1 million in the second quarter of 2019, new figures from Statistics Norway (SSB) show.

The decline is linked to the measures introduced to slow down the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic. The decline in passengers has been greater for international flights than domestic flights.

There was also a slight decrease in air freight of goods. 45,000 tonnes of goods were transported by air in the second quarter of this year, 15 percent less than in 2019.

However, there are signs that air traffic may experience growth in the time ahead. From June to July, the number of air passengers increased by 71 percent, Avinor states in a press release.

– “We see that domestic traffic in particular has picked up. Nevertheless, we are less than half of the passenger numbers compared to the same time last year, so we are far away from normal traffic,” says Gaute Skallerud Riise, director of traffic development at Avinor.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today