Four more times traveled by plane during Palm Weekend – E24

Just before Easter, infection rates in the country began to rise, causing the Norwegian Health Directorate and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health to worry about increased travel and social contact at Easter.

Therefore, the recommendation to avoid unnecessary travel in Norway (beyond leisure properties) was maintained throughout Easter.

Figures from Avinor show that 75,323 people still opted out of one of its airports last weekend.

That is four times more than in 2020.

Get foreign travelers

Before the government announced a tightening of quarantine rules, Avinor forecasts estimated that more than 21,000 Norwegians would leave the country during Easter, according to NRK.

New figures from Avinor showed that 8,663 people left the country from one of Avinor’s airports during the palm weekend. If you take Easter 2019 as your starting point, there is a 96 percent decrease in traffic, Avinor states in a press release.

At Easter 2020, there was a 94 percent decrease in the number of passengers from 2019.If domestic and foreign passengers are taken as a starting point at Easter 2021, a 77 percent decrease is seen.

Aviation expert and associate professor Espen Andersen at BI Norwegian Business School tells E24 that he doesn’t think the new figures give a clear indication of additional air traffic.

– I would predict that there will be a rapid decline in private travel, because there is a lot of money among people, but that the proportion of business travel will drop when we return to normal. I think so because you’ve been looking forward to working from home, says Andersen.

– Many have followed the recommendations

Deputy Health Director Espen Rostrup Nakstad writes to E24 that it seems that many have followed the call not to travel abroad on vacation.

– Most have traveled domestically and this increase is likely mainly due to the fact that there was very little travel activity last year when Norway and much of Europe were closed. We have the impression that the majority of people who travel abroad now do so for family reasons in their home countries or because they themselves live abroad, he writes.

Nakstad writes that the Norwegian Health Directorate is excited about whether the travel activity will have any impact on the increase in infection and how many actually come to Norway from abroad after the week.