Response to interpellation 2024/25:27 on the future of Västernorrland's airports
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
KD argues that the government has strengthened aviation's competitiveness by abolishing the aviation tax, doubling the operating support for non-state airports, and giving Trafikverket a billion-kronor supplement 1. KD emphasizes that maintenance of infrastructure is a priority 2 and that the airports are crucial for the security situation, readiness, and the Nato cooperation 3. KD argues that air transport is critical for healthcare, firefighting, defense, and the business sector's need for rapid freight 4. S argues that Västernorrland's airports are in a vulnerable position and that the uncertainty threatens the county's competitiveness and growth 5. S believes that the government is delaying decisions despite the owners having large deficits 5.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! Peter Hedberg has asked me, partly when the airports in Sundsvall, Timrå, and Örnsköldsvik can expect a decision from the government regarding the future, and partly whether I intend to conduct any dialogue with the owners of these airports as well as the business community ahead of the government's position.
First, I want to thank Peter Hedberg for his commitment to the regional airports. A well-functioning, long-term sustainable and reliable transport system, where all types of traffic are developed and contribute to the transport policy goals, is a prerequisite for the whole of Sweden to function. The conditions for being able to live, reside and work in the entire country need to be improved.
In recent years, both the Arlanda Inquiry and the Airport Inquiry have presented their conclusions. Both reports contain a number of important and interesting proposals to strengthen the conditions for the Swedish airports. I have been clear about continuously communicating the proposals from the Airport Inquiry that the government does not intend to proceed with. Here, for example, I have informed that the government does not intend to proceed with the proposal that the government should decide that the general public service obligation and the procured air traffic should be discontinued on a number of flight routes. This concerns, among other things, just as Peter Hedberg mentions, the route Höga Kusten Airport-Stockholm Arlanda. I have also had meetings with representatives from several airports, for example Örnsköldsvik Airport, and I place great value on that dialogue.
The government's starting point is that regular scheduled traffic shall be operated on commercial terms. In some cases, however, it is not possible to operate commercially viable and regular air traffic. In these situations, there may be a need to establish air routes with a public service obligation to ensure various regions' accessibility to Sweden's capital. For this work, Trafikverket is the responsible authority. Trafikverket uses, among other things, an accessibility model in support of making assessments regarding which routes should be subject to a public service obligation.
Since the government took office, we have taken several measures to strengthen aviation's competitiveness and safeguard good accessibility by air. The common fee equalization system for security screening of passengers and their luggage, GAS, has received an addition of 1,035,000,000 kronor to counteract fee increases. The state contribution for operating support to non-state airports has also been doubled, and we have recently also announced that the aviation tax will be abolished from July 1, 2025, in order, among other things, to improve accessibility throughout the country. Furthermore, Trafikverket received a mandate in April this year to investigate, prepare, and take necessary measures to give municipal and regional authorities the opportunity to supplement the state supply of flight routes with a public service obligation.
With that said, my message today must be that the proposals in the investigation continue to be prepared.
Peter Hedberg (S)
Madam Speaker! Just as the Minister says in his response, which I also thank him for, the regional airports are something that concerns not only me but also very many other politicians and actors at both the national and regional local levels.
It is not so strange that I have chosen to highlight just Västernorrland's airports in my interpellation because I represent Västernorrland County. But it is also the case that the question of the airports' future must be raised because the entire infrastructure of our county is in a very vulnerable and rather uncertain position.
In Västernorrland, investments are estimated to amount to between 100 and 120 billion kronor, and that is only until 2030. More may come, but the county's competitiveness and growth are threatened by the uncertainty that both elected officials and the business community face.
The airport investigation was delivered in February last year, i.e., 2023. I have asked several written questions and received the answer that the question regarding the airports is still being prepared. The same obviously applies now based on the government's answer.
At the same time as people are waiting, the owners of the Sundsvall Timrå and Örnsköldsvik airports are being burdened with large deficits and, unfortunately, also a deteriorated range of services. Now, the local business community has stepped up. They are taking their responsibility and working more actively to support the airports. But it doesn't help if the government chooses to continue dragging out decisions on what is going to apply. Some form of decision, regardless of what it becomes, must come soon.
Madam Speaker! I mentioned earlier that it is a difficult situation for large parts of Västernorrland County when it comes to infrastructure. The rail traffic on the Ostkustbanan is affected by major problems with delays and stops, and despite the fact that Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has promised that the Ostkustbanan shall be fully built out by 2035, sufficient decisions are also lacking here.
Therefore, it is even more serious that the air traffic in our county also hangs in uncertainty and that there is thus a risk that communications between Västernorrland, Stockholm and the rest of the country will deteriorate further.
I really want to convey to the Minister that this is in no way about complaining, a victim mentality, or anything similar that one can be accused of. It is about the fact that our county houses very many important actors who contribute to the Swedish forest industry, defense technology, and energy. We are, as I said earlier, an attractive county for investments of over 100 billion kronor until 2030.
It was mentioned briefly in a previous interpellation regarding investments in northern Sweden, and we have all too often noted that the government, despite our pressure, unfortunately chooses not to include Västernorrlands län in the strategy for northern Sweden, which obviously affects the possibility of investments and support. No information is also provided regarding double tracks on the Ostkustbanan, and now we are expected to sit still regarding air traffic in Sundsvall Timrå and Örnsköldsvik as well.
I would like to ask the Minister if he can provide any statement that at least suggests a direction for the infrastructure in our county.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! I would certainly be happy to do so. I can start where Peter Hedberg finished.
The infrastructure bill that the government presented contains a historically large investment. It is an increase of the framework, if compared in the same way as the current plan is constructed, by 27 percent in fixed prices. This corresponds to 1,171 billion kronor, which is the framework that the government proposes the Riksdag should decide on.
Much weight lies on maintenance and upkeep. The roads and railways in large parts of the country, not to mention the whole country, suffer from neglected maintenance. This also affects Västernorrland, of course. There are significant problems with the quality of the roads, which I believe Peter Hedberg is well aware of. It is the same thing with the railway traffic. It has been a destructive trend not to invest sufficiently in maintenance in the previous plans for a long time.
We are now breaking the destructive trend. Taking care of what we have, investing in maintenance so that as a business owner or private individual one can rely on that infrastructure holds up when one travels, whether it is on the road or the railway, is of course important for the whole country - also, I believe the member underlines, for Västernorrland.
When it comes to new investments, there is also money for that. We emphasize that alternative financing should also be tested, and we press very hard on the fact that cost control must be strengthened so that more money is obtained for infrastructure and more infrastructure for the money.
Regarding aviation and airports, I share Peter Hedberg's view that many airports are having a very tough time right now, largely as a result of reduced travel in domestic traffic. This has several causes. I believe it is important to look at them and implement measures there to strengthen aviation's competitiveness. That is where the government is working very actively.
I am pleased to be able to announce today again that the aviation tax will be removed. It will strengthen domestic aviation. The measure we have taken for the baggage and security debt that built up during the pandemic would have hit airlines and airports and, ultimately, travelers if the government had not made the billion-kronor supplement that the government decided on. The more than doubling of the operating support has been a matter of survival for many regional airports. The government has, therefore, taken measures.
One must also get to the heart of the matter. Why has it decreased? Here, one cannot ignore the flight shame debate that has been ongoing and the chances to strengthen aviation that have been missed for a long time. A wet blanket has hung over aviation during the entire last parliamentary term and the one before, because it has been politically unfeasible to invest in aviation infrastructure to the extent that was needed. To some extent, we are seeing the consequences of that now.
I note that municipalities and public actors have travel policies that explicitly prohibit employees from flying. For example, here in Stockholm, Peter Hedberg's party comrades are involved and are driving that development. There are other alternatives. Incentivizing sustainable aviation and purchasing biofuel would accelerate the transition and simultaneously strengthen domestic aviation.
We also need to address all of that in a debate like this. I would like to ask Peter Hedberg what he is doing in his own party to resolve the flight shame and actually give aviation the right competitive conditions.
Peter Hedberg (S)
Madam Speaker! Whether for me or for Västernorrland County, my party colleagues in Stockholm City Hall are the big problem. The problem is how we can at all expect to be able to come to Stockholm in the future if this continues.
I, my party colleagues and very many actors in Västernorrland County are fighting for aviation to be given reasonable conditions and that some kind of announcement should also be made.
I have not received any clearer indicative notice regarding what applies for Sundsvall, Timrå, and Örnsköldsvik. I must nevertheless ask based on the fact that the Minister, in his initial response, stated that the Minister and the Government have provided notice in those respects where they do not intend to proceed with the proposals that they perceived as all too negative.
A decision has been made regarding Ronneby and Höga Kusten Airport that there is no intention to remove the public service obligation there. But when it comes to Sundsvall Timrå, the investigator suggested that public service obligation should be introduced on that stretch in order to investigate at a later point whether it would be included in the national basic supply. It becomes a kind of three-stage rocket we are talking about, and my concern there is that we could face a situation where Sundsvall Timrå airport will hover in uncertainty through several different stages.
And since what the investigator proposed regarding Sundsvall Timrå was based on the assumption that the traffic obligation would be removed at Höga Kusten Airport, the question is actually what assessments the government intends to make from that perspective. Is there any way to more quickly investigate how Sundsvall Timrå can be included in the national basic supply?
From that perspective, I am also thinking of the part where the Minister, in his first answer, stated that he had had a dialogue with a number of actors earlier. That is good, but it was in a much earlier part of the entire process regarding the airport investigation. It does not answer the other question of whether the Minister intends to conduct a dialogue with the actors who own the Sundsvall Timrå and Örnsköldsvik airports and, for that part, also with the business community. I have received a letter, which I am sure the Minister has also received, from the County Administrative Board, municipalities, and the business community, in which they urge, encourage, and invite to a dialogue to discuss the conditions for both rail and air traffic.
One can reason from Stockholm City Hall and the Social Democrats' position here, but my most important question is what the government intends to do with the infrastructure in Västernorrland County. Therefore, I want to know if the Minister intends to accept this invitation to dialogue.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! What I am highlighting is a movement towards not seeing aviation as an important part of the transport system but actively opting out of it, even where one can book tickets with more biofuels and where it leads to social sustainability and perhaps also there is an economic sustainability aspect that in some cases could make it possible to choose that mode of transport. However, that modes of transport are actively pitted against each other is one of the reasons why domestic aviation has a weaker position and that the recovery after the pandemic is slower in Sweden than in many other countries.
This is something I think we also need to include in such a debate. Why does it look the way it does? How do we get to the root of the problem, and how can we have a substantive discussion on how we can seriously strengthen aviation's competitiveness? In that case, it is not uninteresting, Madam Speaker, to bring up an action from the party that the member represents, which actually goes in the opposite direction in relation to the requests and views that the member puts forward.
When it comes to the specific questions, it is exactly as I said in my answer: Trafikverket is the responsible authority for the procured traffic and general traffic obligation. We are continuing to prepare a proposal that is in the investigation.
Questions are also asked about the dialogue. I really appreciate the dialogue. I have visited approximately half, I believe, of Sweden's airports during half of the parliamentary term. I am happy to revisit them and would like to continue the dialogue with both regions and municipalities.
One of the questions I usually ask the regions and municipalities that are present at the meetings is what their own local travel policy looks like. In some cases, it actually rings a bit hollow. The defense of the local or regional airport is not followed up in the own travel policies. I do not know how it looks in these cases, but this is also something to look at. One can be constructive and jointly try to find ways forward.
This is very important for the whole of Sweden to function. It is also important in the security situation we find ourselves in, where airports of course play a major role for our own preparedness and also for the possibility of providing host nation support; there is a great interest from Nato.
Both of these investigations were commissioned in a somewhat different security policy climate, so the question Peter Hedberg asks about what assessments the government is making now is relevant. An important message I want to give is that the security policy situation and the importance of aviation for both our and our allies' capabilities, of course, weigh heavily. That is why we early on more than doubled the operational support to the regional airports - to alleviate the burden in that regard.
My ambition is that we shall continue to work with these proposals at as fast a pace as is possible. But in parallel with this, there is a tough situation for aviation, so it is also a matter of providing support. That is why we have provided the operational support - so as not to wait and do nothing with reference to the investigation. On the contrary, we have taken many important steps, as we have highlighted, Madam Speaker.
Regarding the concrete question about the current invitation, I would prefer to refrain from managing my calendar here in the chamber, Madam Speaker. This we shall, of course, look into, and I welcome and view positively the dialogue I have with many airports and also with the organization Sveriges regionala flygplatser, which of course has an important role to play in strengthening aviation's competitiveness in Sweden.
Peter Hedberg (S)
Madam Speaker! I fully understand that the Minister does not want to make calendar bookings on the spot here in the chamber. My point is rather to point out the dialogue that is needed and that is requested by various actors in this situation.
I definitely believe that the Minister is on to something that is right. Perhaps at the local and regional level, one must reflect on how one has viewed its travel policies and what requirements one has set for external actors, especially now when we can also see that there may be a development towards electric aviation on shorter domestic routes.
But at the same time, the actors, in this situation where the regional airports have large deficits, hundreds of millions of kronor, are faced with rather difficult trade-offs. That is why I mean that it would be welcome if the government at least conducted a clearer dialogue and communication so that one can gain an understanding of when some decision might come from the government.
Earlier this week, I spent some time at the regional aviation day here in the Riksdag. There, the Minister's State Secretary also received questions regarding the timing and suggested that there were things that had complicated the preparation and caused it to take longer. This can be understood, but I believe that the government communicates and informs too little, both towards the local airport owners and towards the business community. Important investments that will contribute to growth and competitiveness risk being postponed.
I have noted – the Minister is welcome to clarify this in his concluding remarks – that there is also no direct information to or dialogue with the opposition in the Riksdag regarding this issue. It is therefore a bit difficult to adhere to something that one does not have any information about at all. I really mean that some kind of announcement must come soon, otherwise the commitment will become far too large for very many regional airport actors.
In conclusion, I would like to thank the Minister for the debate.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! I also want to thank you for the debate and for the observation that there is probably a lot to look at in municipal and regional travel policies that risk actively counteracting what is desired in another part of the municipality or region: to secure airport infrastructure, which is indeed a very important part when it comes to healthcare transports, fire-fighting aircraft and emergency measures, and also for the defense's needs and, as the member has touched upon several times and I really want to emphasize, the business community's needs.
It is about business trips but also about the transport of critical tools or materials needed for industry; without them, industry can come to a complete standstill. Basic transport of the large masses often occurs by rail, but critical special transports that need to go very fast often occur in the air today. Air freight accounts for only 1 percent of the total freight volume in Sweden but for approximately 30 percent of the freight value. This is also an important aspect that I want to add.
I welcome the dialogue. I also want to emphasize that this is not something the government wants to put on the back burner; on the contrary, we are taking many important steps. We have also, in the work with the national plan and the infrastructure bill, pointed out that the different types of transport need to be linked together in a clearer way—that one needs to strengthen the competitiveness of each one of them, but above all see how they can be integrated in a different way. The national plan, which we will present measures for after the Riksdag has reached a decision on the infrastructure bill, will, without anticipating the process, not exclude even more reinforcements when it comes to building the transport system that not least the business community and the residents in Västernorrland, but also in all of Sweden, need.
We will have reason to return to this. I thank you for the debate today.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.