Response to interpellation 2025/26:73 on Ronneby Airport and the government's airport policy
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerned the government's airport policy and a new investigation regarding Ronneby airport. KD argued that aviation is important for the economy and that the investigation aims to strengthen the state's control and competitiveness, not to question individual airports 1 2 3 4. KD emphasized that Ronneby airport shall remain under state ownership and that the investigation also examines legal possibilities for state subsidies 2 3 4. S argued that the government prioritizes Bromma airport at the expense of regional airports, which creates concern and uncertainty for investments in Blekinge 5 6. S argued that the new investigation is counterintuitive since a previous investigation was recently concluded 5 6 7.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Infrastruktur- och bostadsministern Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! Heléne Björklund has asked me what the reasons are for the government now once again investigating the future of Ronneby airport, if the investigation is a result of the government's decision to preserve Bromma airport and how this affects Swedavia's economy and other airports, as well as how I and the government intend to ensure that Ronneby airport continues to be a part of the airport system, given its importance.
Let me first emphasize that aviation is an important part of the transport system. In Sweden, with long distances and many sparsely populated areas, aviation is important for domestic travel. It also has great significance for Sweden's economy, competitiveness, and openness towards the rest of the world.
Ronneby Airport belongs to the Armed Forces, but Swedavia operates activities there for the needs of civil traffic. The airport is one of the ten airports included in the national base supply of airports, which is managed and developed by Swedavia. The base supply plays an important role in the air transport system to ensure a basic interregional and international accessibility for the entire country.
The Government has taken several important measures to strengthen the competitiveness of aviation and airports and to improve the conditions for good accessibility by air.
Here are some examples. The aviation tax was abolished from July 1st this year. We have provided a capital supplement of just over 1 billion kronor to cover the airports' costs for security checks in order to counteract fee increases. In the budget bill for 2026, the government proposes that the state grant to the municipalities for operating support to non-state airports shall permanently increase by 318 million kronor per year.
Aviation, and particularly domestic traffic, has struggled with difficult challenges over several years: the consequences of the covid-19 pandemic, closed airspaces due to war and unrest, aviation tax, and not least so-called flight shame. This has unfortunately affected the conditions of the airports. At the same time, however, the total defense's needs for airports have changed due to the deteriorated global situation and the NATO accession.
The Government therefore decided on 28 May this year to task a special investigator with investigating and evaluating both the state's role as owner and manager of airports as well as the national base supply. The assignment also includes analyzing issues related to the function of Bromma Airport as a result of the reduced scheduled traffic at the airport. The assignment shall be reported by 30 September 2026 at the latest.
Heléne Björklund (S)
Madam Speaker! I thank you for the answer.
The Minister enumerates a number of circumstances that have possibly caused the flights to decrease. We in Blekinge are beginning to recognize the pattern. Much of it is about the government wanting to save Bromma Airport at, as we see it, the expense of other regional airports.
Bromma is an airport that is running at a loss, losing passengers and where the lines are thinning, just as the minister says. The government then chooses to investigate the regional and state airports again – an investigation has just been conducted and concluded.
As we see it, Ronneby airport is one of the country's most strategic airports. This is, therefore, completely backwards.
We have an airport in Blekinge that is used by the Armed Forces and which is used for medical transports, for the business sector and for our university. It is that one, together with a few others, that is now to be investigated again.
How can the government defend keeping a half-empty or almost empty airport in Stockholm alive while creating uncertainty around the regional airport that the entire southeastern part of Sweden depends on?
The Minister says in his response that aviation is important for the whole country. But when it comes to action, it does not feel that way. Then it feels as if it is Stockholm and Bromma that are prioritized.
Ronneby Airport, as one of ten state-owned airports, now receives an investigation that extends far into the future, while Bromma Airport receives guarantees and capital injections.
You say that you want to strengthen competitiveness, but the uncertainty that this entails creates the exact opposite. When companies, the Armed Forces, the rescue services, the university, and the state activities that exist in Blekinge do not know whether the airport will remain in the state portfolio, it creates an anxiety. It also creates uncertainty regarding investments and relocations. Blekinge needs clear decisions, not more bureaucracy.
I wonder: When the government discusses and makes decisions about Bromma, do you ever look towards the southeast?
Infrastruktur- och bostadsministern Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! If there is any concern regarding this, I can reassure Heléne Björklund: I have not encountered it. Rather, the investigation's directives and the investigation's mandate are about strengthening state control over the airports. There is nothing in the investigation's directives that suggests that any individual airport in the base supply, for example Ronneby airport, is questioned in any way.
Already in October 2023, I clarified that the airport in Ronneby would remain under state ownership. The Government has tasked Anders Flanking with investigating the entire state basic supply of airports as well as the function of Bromma airport. It would therefore be strange to exclude certain individual state airports such as Ronneby in that analysis, not least against the background of the direction in the directives.
Some of the points that Anders Flanking shall analyze concern what legal possibilities exist to introduce state grants to state airports in order to strengthen the airports, such as the one in Ronneby. One shall also assess how the proposals affect the conditions for the state's control over both state and non-state airports in situations of serious crisis, high alert, and ultimately war, and assess the consequences of the proposals for crisis preparedness and total defense.
Heléne Björklund says that an investigation has just been conducted. Yes, an investigation has been conducted, where one of the proposals concerned Ronneby airport, and already in 2023 I, as I said, gave the notice that it shall remain under state management.
The previous investigation had directives that were written in a completely different time. What I have just read out is new in this regard. As I said in my first answer, Madam Speaker, the total defense's need for robust airfields throughout the country has increased. That is why we have seen reason to review and strengthen the state's command, and that is what this is about.
I repeat: There is nothing in the directives that suggests that any individual airport in the basic supply is being questioned in any way.
Heléne Björklund (S)
Madam Speaker! Thank you very much for the answer, Minister! It is very strange: If the Minister can now stand here and be so clear, why should it be investigated at all? As mentioned, it has recently been investigated, and then the government's investigators' proposal was that Ronneby airport should no longer be included in the state portfolio. Then came, quite literally, as the Minister says, the decision that it still should be.
It is a constant dithering from the government when it comes to Blekinge. Do the government and the minister not understand that when one appoints a new investigation now, just after the other, where Ronneby airport is included, has been concluded, one creates the same uncertainty and anxiety again? This is a hub for southeastern Sweden. The Armed Forces are located there, but there are also many other operations there.
During the time the government moves here and there and is supposed to save Bromma at any cost, an anxiety is created. I actually think that Blekinge deserves better than that. We do our part. We defend the country. From Blekinge, we also defend our allies. We export, we educate, and we, as said, do our part. Still, we constantly see our infrastructure being questioned.
I want to conclude with one more question to the Minister. I wonder if the Minister can give me a promise that Blekinge will begin to be treated as an asset and as part of the solution to Sweden's problems instead of being constantly questioned.
Infrastruktur- och bostadsministern Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! This is not about rhetoric. I have been very clear: There is nothing in the investigation directives that suggests that Ronneby airport is threatened in any way. It is a statement that is as clear as when I already in 2023 rejected the previous investigation proposal concerning Ronneby airport.
This is a very important part of the airport system. This airport has a very important role for local and regional competitiveness and development as well as for the Swedish Armed Forces' needs. It is from the insight that airports have such an important role, and will be able to have an even more important role in a situation with high alert, that a robust airport network in all of Sweden is needed.
Regarding the assignment to review the state's role as owner and manager of airports, it is not about making cuts but rather about seeing how the airports can be strengthened and evaluating models and principles for ownership, organization, and financing of the state-owned airports and, based on this assessment, presenting proposals that contribute to increased competitiveness and long-term economic sustainability for the state-owned airports, while ensuring good accessibility throughout the country and to the rest of the world as well as a robust airport system.
Madam Speaker! I also spoke about another point in the investigation directive which concerns what legal possibilities exist for introducing subsidies to state-owned airports, something that does not exist today. It is therefore another part of the investigation that concerns strengthening the airports.
I hope that Heléne Björklund, after this debate, will take to heart both what is stated in the investigation directive and what I have said here in order to be able to further convey that there is no reason for concern in this situation. On the contrary, the investigation's mandate is very clear: The focus is on strengthening the controllability over the airports, nothing else.
Heléne Björklund (S)
Madam Speaker! I have read the directives. But I wonder if there is any side directive directly from the Minister, because he says that it will not happen – instead, it will be like this. Does it mean that the Minister has given any specific directive that just Ronneby airport should be exempted because it is particularly important? Why is it included in the investigation in that case?
This is not just about an airport. For us in Blekinge, it is about living in a part of the country that time and again seems to be forgotten. We have grown used to having to fight a little extra. In Blekinge, police stations are being closed and state service offices are being shut down. We see one service after another disappear. We have fought for railway infrastructure despite the government's changed priorities regarding the Sydostlänken, we have fought for Ronneby airport after the previous investigation, and now a new investigation is coming which again creates concern.
Every time this happens, we feel that the future is uncertain for the airport as a state airport. As was said, it is less than two years since the previous investigation was concluded. I would have wished that the government would say that they understand this, that they will resolve it so that it does not become like this. Instead, we are constantly told that things are to be investigated.
Madam Speaker! This is about people in Blekinge wanting to feel that the state stands by the people of Blekinge, not over their heads with a folder.
Infrastruktur- och bostadsministern Andreas Carlson (KD)
Madam Speaker! If one takes what Heléne Björklund says seriously, from a Ronneby perspective, it would be very strange not to include Ronneby airport in an investigation that, among other things, is to look at the legal conditions for providing state grants to state airports. Today, it is not possible, but the investigator has a mandate to look into it. Does Heléne Björklund seriously mean that one is not interested in increased state support for the state airport in a situation where Ronneby airport is so important for both competitiveness and local regional accessibility and, not least, from a total defense perspective?
I believe that Heléne Björklund should look more closely at the directives to see that there are several parts in this that could strengthen Ronneby airport. And as I have said twice, I believe, earlier in this debate: There is nothing in the investigation directives that suggests that any single airport in the basic supply, including Ronneby airport, is being questioned in any way.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.