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– The government’s ambition is to guarantee transport of social importance. On the other hand, if having charter airports for tourist traffic and the like should be a municipal and regional issue, says Tomas Eneroth (S) to DN.
Last week, the CEO of Skavsta airport, partly owned by the Nyköping municipality but mainly by a French company (90 per cent), sounded the alarm about the company’s financial situation. The airport is nearing bankruptcy if the municipality doesn’t come in with money, he says.
Infrastructure Minister Thomas Eneroth (S) does not see any immediate risk of lack of capacity if one or more airports were forced to close. According to him, it is not relevant that the government enters and supports Skavsta airport, because it is very close to Stockholm.
According to Skavsta CEO Cédric Fechter, the airport will soon be bankrupt if nothing happens.
Photo: Margit Kluthke / Alamy
– Skavsta is a privately owned airport that has had a significant surplus for a long time. It is also within the two hour radius from Stockholm, which means that according to EU regulations we do not have the opportunity to support Skavsta. However, the municipality, which also owns some, can use some of the resources they received in municipal grants, Eneroth says, adding:
– I hope the owners there will take responsibility for the airport in the same way that they have been getting results for a long time.
Even the other two The airports near Stockholm at Västerås and Bromma are under pressure. There is already a political majority in Västerås to close the local airport and, at the end of March, Västerås residents will vote on the matter. Bromma airport is owned by state-owned Swedavia, which last year submitted a report to the government stating that the airport is no longer financially profitable.
Maria Stockhaus, member of the parliament of the moderates.
Photo: The moderates
According to Maria Stockhaus (M), A member of the Riksdag and a traffic policy spokesman for the moderates, runs the risk of the situation around Stockholm becoming a major problem.
– There is a lot of traffic that in those cases will enter Arlanda, he says.
She believes that if traffic to and from Stockholm is limited by lack of capacity, all of the country’s airports will be affected.
– We need aviation so that all of Sweden can live. There are no work alternatives or means of transport in some parts of the country to reach Stockholm or the world.
The government started several years ago, an airport review that would review the role of the state as a sponsor of regional non-state airports. It has become a long journey, but recently the Swedish Transport Administration presented another report on which airports should be called “emergency airports”.
If you must have charter airports for tourist traffic and the like, it should be a municipal and regional question about which priority you choose
The Minister of Infrastructure believes that these are the most important for the government to ensure operations.
– The government’s ambition is to guarantee transport of social importance. On the other hand, if you must have charter airports for tourist traffic and the like, it must be a municipal and regional question about which priority you choose, says Tomas Eneroth.
Do I interpret you correctly that if all three are canceled, you do not see any problem in it?
– It had been a long time since no airport was closed. Västerås is the first time it has been updated, where the municipality, the owner, says they want to remove it to set other priorities, says Eneroth and continues:
– Otherwise, I only affirm that it is a deep crisis for flights around the world and that in Europe we have seen many airport closures. I am not sure that we will see it in Sweden, because we are investing significant public resources to maintain the infrastructure, especially for what is a concern of the state: ensuring important transport.
In autumn, seven municipalities took over ownership of Ängelholm and Helsingborg Airport.
Photo: Johan Nilsson / TT
In some parts of the country, the municipality has It’s already the priority Eneroth talks about. In September, seven municipalities in southern Sweden took over ownership of Ängelholm and Helsingborg Airport after being owned by the Peab company for many years. Now the taxpayers of the municipalities will be responsible for the deficit.
“We have a loss budget this year of minus SEK 20 million that homeowners can run into,” says the company’s CEO Christian Ziese.
The airport is too close to Malmö and Copenhagen to compete for international flights and it is also not designated as an emergency airport. However, it is usually frequented by flights to and from the capital, as it is too far to travel during the day by other means of transport, according to the CEO. The additional government support of 100 million has not been seen.
– There was a mistake. It was quick and not everyone was able to participate. Sadly, we were the ones who didn’t get it, because it was based on those who were already eligible, says Ziese.
– We expect some kind of solution this year, but above all we hope for a long-term solution, that the state finds some way to support or contribute to regional airports, because it is very difficult for us to manage ourselves.
We have a hard time managing ourselves
In Norrköping, the municipality has made unlike the South Swedes. Norrköping Airport has long been financially weak and a heavy burden on the municipality, despite being the fourth largest charter airport in Sweden.
Even before the pandemic, the future of the airport was discussed. Now, just over a year later, there are many signs that it will stick. A private actor with roots in Norrköping has shown interest and, according to the airport’s chief executive, Ola Matsson, is willing to invest between SEK 15-20 million.
– It is an adequate price. You do not sell the land but it is a real estate business where you only buy current assets in the form of equipment and machines, then you rent it at the airport is the idea.
It usually has municipal the airport company has a deficit of SEK 22-25 million, which the municipality can make up every year. Charter traffic in a normal year covers more than half of the costs, but the circumstances of 2020 have caused that segment of income to have more or less disappeared.
Then there are activities like ambulance flights, police, coast guard and flight school.
– But it is not a heavy traffic and, above all, it does not generate any appreciable income. What generates revenue is charter traffic.
Bromma Airport in Stockholm.
Photo: Paul Hansen
Maria Stockhaus (M) is concerned about the government’s attitude towards aviation and calls for both more support and clear signs that the infrastructure issue is being taken seriously. He wonders what happened to the government’s review of airports.
– Yes, it is happening, says Tomas Eneroth.
– But I think everyone understands that a pandemic that means that for a period we basically had no regular flights around the world makes it difficult to draw long-term conclusions about the capacity of airports.
That does not mean that it is paused, but also that no end date is delayed.
– It is a continuous review of the airport structure. It is not a process that has an end date, but we continually work to see how the airport structure challenges, he says.
Read more:
Skavsta airport weeks away from bankruptcy
Regional airports are at risk of collapse
Sweden: managing Bromma airport is not profitable
Västerås airport closes
Tomas Eneroth open to more support for airports in crisis
