Air traffic in February remains below the norm

“Air traffic in February remains in line with our forecasts from the autumn. Although there are far more people travelling than was the case last year, the figures for February are still 16 per cent down on 2019*. We expect air traffic to remain below 2019 levels for the rest of the year, and that the year as a whole will be at approximately 91 per cent of the figures seen in 2019,” says Gaute Skallerud Riise, Avinor’s Vice President Traffic Development.

“There are differences from airport to airport. Oslo had more than 1.6 million passengers in February, which is 19 per cent below the figure for February 2019. If you look at Bergen Airport, the figure is only 4 per cent down on 2019. The main reason for this is Wiverøe’s investment in Bergen, and their sluicing of passengers across Bergen as a hub. Stavanger and Trondheim are also closer to their 2019 levels than is the case for Oslo. However, Oslo Airport accounts for the largest volume – the most passengers – which means it has the biggest impact on the overall figures for Avinor,” Riise explains.

Skallerud Riise has faith in summer traffic
“International traffic in particular pulled down the volume, while the domestic figures have seen better recovery following the pandemic. Although there is still a way to go until the summer, there is much to suggest that we will see this gap closing. We expect domestic traffic to be in line with 2019 levels during the summer months before falling somewhat in the autumn. We also expect to see a gradual recovery in international traffic going forward, although we expect that to remain someway beneath the benchmark figures from 2019,” Riise concludes.

Aircraft movements
There were 49,893 commercial aircraft movements in February 2023. This is an increase of 15 per cent from February 2022. Compared to February 2019, there has been a drop in the number of aircraft movements of 13 per cent.

International traffic
1,191,693 passengers have travelled between Avinor’s airports and international destinations in February. In the same month last year, there were 700,000 international passengers. This means that international traffic has increased by 70 per cent compared to last year when aviation was still impacted by the pandemic and travel restrictions.
Compared to 2019, there is a 20 per cent decline in international traffic in February.

Domestic traffic
There were 2,038,645 passengers on domestic flights in February this year. This is an increase of 35 per cent from February last year.
Compared to February 2019, there has been a decline of 14 per cent.

Passenger figures from the major and regional (DRL) airports compared to 2022 and 2019:

*Why compare to 2019?

2020 and 2021 were severely affected by travel bans, restrictions and illness. 2019 was the last year without the pandemic or the war in Ukraine, and was a ‘normal year’ in terms of travel.