Increase in Autumn Air Traffic - International Travel Stands Out
Traffic at Avinor's airports grew in September, with 4.9 million passengers, a 2% increase from last year. International travel saw a 3% rise, with over 2 million passengers. Bergen led with an 11% increase in international traffic. The load factor reached a record 74.5%, and commercial flight movements rose by 1%. Additionally, responsible drone flying increased, with a 15% rise in registered drone plans. Overall, September marked a significant growth in both air travel and drone activity in Norway.
Traffic continued its steady growth in September, with an increase inpassengernumbers compared to the same period in 2024. This growth is driven bytravel-hungry Norwegians, as well as a rising interest in Norway as a holidaydestination among international travelers.
While summer has come to an end, autumn remains a popular season for travel.This is clearly reflected in the 4.9 million passengers who traveled throughAvinor's airports in September. Compared to the same month last year, thisrepresents a two percent increase - for both domestic and international airtraffic.
We are particularly seeing growth in international traffic in Septembercomparedto September 2024. Over two million passengers traveled to and from Norwegianairports and international destinations, marking a three percent increase.
- The trends we observed during the summer traffic have continued intoSeptember, a month increasingly characterized by tourism. We see that thegrowthis largely tied to markets with strong international interest. For example,Bergen experienced an 11 percent increase in international passenger numbers,while Evenes and Tromsø saw growth of 11 and 6 percent, respectively, saysGauteSkallerud Riise, VP Traffic Development at Avinor.
Other major airports, such as Oslo (+1%), Stavanger (+1%), and Trondheim (0%),however, experienced weaker growth in total passenger numbers for September.
- It is clearly a concern for the respective regions, but also for Norway as awhole, regarding the development of Oslo Airport, which is the country's mainairport and hub, says Skallerud Riise.
Record-Breaking SeptemberAnother trend that has developed over the past three years is the record-highload factor on flights.
- In September, 74.5 percent of all seats were filled by passengers, setting anew record for the month. So far this year, the load factor stands at 74.7percent, which is also a record compared to previous years. The growth inpassenger numbers is therefore outpacing the increase in available seats, saysSkallerud Riise.
Flight MovementsThere were 66,578 commercial flight movements in September, representing a onepercent increase from last year.Increase in Responsible Drone Flying More people are flying dronesresponsibly,according to the figures from September. Last month, 3,320 drone plans wereregistered in Ninox Drone - Avinor's system for managing drones.
- In September, we saw a 15 percent increase in the number of registered droneplans compared to the same month last year," says Mats Gjertsen, head ofAvinor's drone program.
- It is positive that responsible drone use is increasing. More peopleregistering their drone plans in Ninox helps create a culture of safe andvisible drone flying. We encourage everyone who flies drones to familiarizethemselves with the regulations before flying.
So far this year, a total of 25,344 drone plans have been registered.
Link to statistics:https://om.avinor.no/en/about-us/traffic-statistics/
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