Sweden’s airport operator, Swedavia, is putting an increased focus on developing intercontinental routes in and out of the Scandinavian country by appointing a director of intercontinental route development. These long-haul routes are essential to support the fast growing Swedish economy and during the last two years, 14 new direct intercontinental routes have been inaugurated from the country’s main gateway at Stockholm Arlanda Airport.

Swedavia is currently planning and expanding capacity at Arlanda to be able to meet the demand of the future with the aim of becoming Scandinavia´s leading airport 2020. In total, € 1.5 billion are allocated to meet demand of international travel to and from Stockholm. Ongoing development includes code-F capability which enables aircrafts such as the Airbus A380 to serve the airport, improved transfer flows and increased remote capacity. Already, passenger satisfaction has improved to record figures.

“We have an ambitious strategy of connecting Sweden with direct intercontinental routes to the main airport hubs in Asia and North America. This will help support Swedish export companies’ market access, and simultaneously boost the number of inbound travellers to Sweden, said Elizabeth Axtelius, director aviation business, Swedavia.

In a developing air service development business where airline executives increasingly expect airports to analyse, develop, and present them with in-depth analysis of new route opportunities, it is becoming essential that airports have a better understanding of how airlines work, analyse, and prioritise.

As part of Swedavia’s aims to grow its airline partnerships it is strengthening its Aviation Business team by employing Ole Wieth Christensen as director of intercontinental route development. Known to many in the community and a regular attendee of Routes events, he has worked at Copenhagen Airport since 2003 in a range of different positions, most recently over the last six years as director for airline sales and route development.

“At Swedavia we have an ambitious focus on attracting and retaining talented employees who can help us develop airline traffic at our ten airports. Ole has a deep knowledge about the airport- and aviation market, a strong sales focus and he has delivered good results in his previous positions,” said Ms Axtelius.

According to schedule data from Sabre Market Intelligence, overall seat capacity at Stockholm Arlanda has risen by 5.2 percent per year since 2011, increasing by 3.6 percent in 2015. With a strong domestic operation and wide European network, its home continent holds a 90.6 percent share of its overall departure capacity, but notable growth has been seen in other parts of the world since 2011.

New direct flights have been introduced into the Far East and East Africa since the start of the decade, while capacity to the Gulf region has more than doubled (up 155.9 percent). Capacity from Stockholm Arlanda into North Africa is up 63.3 percent since 2011, North America up 38.2 percent, Southeast Asia up 32.8 percent and the Middle East up 22.8 percent.