Avinor summarizes aviation for 2023: 10% growth, but 10% below normal

11 Jan 2024 09:55 CET

In 2023, 49 million passengers traveled to and from Avinor's airports. This is
an increase of 10 percent compared to 2022. At the same time, the number of
passengers is 10 percent below the level in 2019, which was the last normal year
before the pandemic.

One area stands out when summarizing the activity in 2023. The number of
international passengers is increasing significantly and is 17 percent higher in
2023 than in 2022. The number of domestic travelers has grown less from 2022 to
2023, with an increase of 5 percent.

Flight movements at the same level as in 2022
Throughout 2023, there were 624,421 commercial flight movements to and from
Avinor's airports. This represents a 1 percent increase compared to 2022. When
comparing 2023 with 2019, there is an 8 percent decrease in flight movements.

Tourism is an important driver
The market to and from abroad has been an important driver for the development
throughout 2023, and indirectly for the domestic market as well, says Abraham
Foss, CEO of Avinor.

"The number of visitors to Norway has increased throughout the year, and is now
back to the same level as before the pandemic. Tourism is the most important
driver, and it is expected that Norway will be an attractive market for foreign
tourists in the future as well.

The number of domestic travelers in Norway did not grow as much, and there is
expected to be significantly weaker growth here than we expect from abroad.

The expected growth will largely come from more tourists traveling domestically
in Norway. More tourists have discovered Norway for nature experiences such as
the Northern Lights and Norway as a winter destination. At the same time, Norway
is a stable country that is not affected by overtourism and has good
infrastructure between cities. It is also worth noting that the Norwegian krone
is weak compared to the dollar and the euro," says Foss, and continues: "For
Norway's ambitions for the development of the tourism industry to be realized,
we are completely dependent on the continuous development of the route offering.
Avinor attaches great importance to this work through dialogue with the tourism
industry and airlines nationally and internationally.

Regarding Norwegians' trips abroad, this number is about 13% below the level in
2019.

"The Big Four" - Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, and Stavanger
The four largest airports all have an increase in passenger numbers in 2023
compared to 2022. With 25 million passengers, Oslo Airport has an increase of 12
percent. Bergen Airport had 6.3 million passengers in 2023, an increase of 6
percent compared to 2022.

All airports have lower passenger numbers than in 2019, which was the last
normal year before the pandemic. For example, there were 28 million passengers
at Oslo Airport in 2019. With this, the passenger numbers in 2023 were 12
percent lower than in 2019 at the main airport.
Bergen Airport Flesland is the closest to the 2019 level among the Big Four; 6.3
million traveled to and from Bergen Airport in 2023, while the number was 6.4
million in 2019. This means that the passenger numbers are 1 percent lower than
in 2019.

Drone flying
In December, 786 drone flights were reported in Ninox Drone, Avinor's drone
management system. "This is an increase of 80 percent compared to December
2022," says Mats Gjertsen, who leads Avinor's drone program.
There has been twice as many reported drone flights in 2023 compared to 2022. In
total, 15,000 flights were reported in 2023. These are strong numbers and show
an increase in the use of drones in Norway, says Mats Gjertsen.

Link to statistics:
https://avinor.no/en/corporate/about-us/statistics/traffic-statistics

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