The company lost six out of every 10 passengers last year, with Oslo facing the harshest impact
Around 20 million passengers reportedly travelled through Avinor’s airports throughout 2020, decreasing by 63 per cent compared to the previous year.
Last month alone, passenger figures fell by 70 per cent compared with December 2019.
Dag Falk-Petersen, CEO of Avinor, said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has hit aviation hard, and the fall in passenger numbers for 2020 is a direct consequence of this.”
Oslo Airport experienced the largest decline, as just nine million passengers travelled through the base last year.
The number of aircraft movements saw a reduction of 33 per cent compared with 2019, therefore not decreasing to the same extent as passenger traffic. A large number of routes were purchased by the Norwegian government to ensure transportation capacity was available throughout the region.
“The decline in the freight market has been minimal, which is unique among European airports in 2020,” explained Falk-Petersen. “We are also very pleased that we have been able to help out by bringing in 12,000 cubic metres of infection control equipment and other equipment to fight the pandemic in Norway. This is the equivalent of 200 semi-trailers of equipment.”
Flights travelling to and from offshore installations have barely experienced any negative impact, as well as the transportation for Norwegian seafood continuing as usual throughout the pandemic.
Despite facing challenges throughout this difficult period, Norwegian aviation has continued to operate services so that crucial transportation can proceed.
