Traffic figures for September – no year-on-year increase

“Developments in September have been a little weaker than we expected at the beginning at the month. This may reflect that rising interest rates are beginning to have an impact on the market. While interest rate hikes have not yet affected people’s wallets, there are likely to be more people who have adopted a more cautious approach given trends over the last year,” says Gaute Skallerud Riise, Avinor’s Vice President Traffic Development.

Passenger figures

2,620,420 passengers travelled domestically in the month of September. This is 5 per cent fewer than in September 2022, and 8 per cent fewer than in September 2019.

1,835,391 passengers travelled internationally, representing an increase of 8 per cent compared with the same month last year, but this figure is still 13 per cent down on the corresponding figure for September 2019.

“The summer getaway has come to a close and we are moving into a quieter period in traffic terms. The transition to the late summer season and then into autumn has demonstrated that seasonal variations are more marked than was the case prior to the pandemic. In other words, there are bigger differences from Midsummer through to September than we previously experienced, and this relative difference is expected to increase as we enter the winter months,” says Riise.

Aircraft movements

There were 56,138 commercial aircraft movements in September 2023. This is 6 per cent fewer movements than in September of last year. Compared to September 2019, there has been a drop in the number of aircraft movements of 9 per cent.

Year-to-date compared to 2019

A comparison of overall passenger numbers so far this year with the same period in 2019 shows that we are currently 10 per cent behind 2019.

The number of aircraft movements so far this year is 7 per cent behind the corresponding figure for 2019. See all figures in appendix 09.2023.

80 per cent increase in drone flights

In September there were a total of 1,781 drone flights registered in the Ninox Drone-Avinor system for drone monitoring. This was an increase of 80 per cent when compared with September 2022.

“To date this year, there has been a 108 per cent increase on last year. We are now entering a couple of months where we can expect poorer weather conditions and as such we can expect a decrease in drone flights from the busy summer months,” says Axel Knutsen, head of Avinor’s Drone Programme.

“Unfortunately, there are still a lot of people who are unfamiliar with the rules that apply to drone flights. This means that some flights that take place are illegal, which can pose a serious danger to others in the same airspace. So far this year, Avinor has registered more than 1,000 illegal flights in the restricted areas that have been established around our airports. We urge everyone to familiarise themselves with the applicable regulations before they operate their drones. The rules are readily available at www.avinor.no/droner," Knutsen says.