In Sweden, home of Greta Thunberg’s flight-shaming movement,
air traffic declined by 4% in 2019. The decrease was impacted by the “climate
debate,” said Swedish airport authority Swedavia.
The passenger count at Swedish airports dropped from its
record high of 42 million in 2018 to just more than 40 million. The decline was
especially steep in the Swedish domestic market, where the passenger count
dropped 9% from 2018, to 12.4 million passengers. Sweden’s international
passenger count dropped just 2%, to 28 million.
Swedavia spokesman Robert Pletzin said the organization
believes several concurring factors caused the decline, including weak exchange
rates for the Swedish krona, worries about a softening economy and the climate
debate. Another factor, he said, was an aviation eco-tax that took effect on
April 1, 2018. The tax is 60 krona ($42.12)
per passenger for international flights.
In a press release, Swedavia touted its sustainability work,
saying that all ten of its airports will have zero emissions of fossil carbon
dioxide from their own operations by this year. Swedavia also has set a goal
that 5% of all fuel used to refuel aircraft at Swedish airports will be
fossil-free sustainable aviation fuel by 2025.