Swedavia Reverses Stockholm Arlanda Pier Plan

Swedavia has halted design work on Stockholm Arlanda Airport’s (ARN) proposed Pier G, reversing its 2025 decision to restart the project and triggering an estimated 1.2 billion Swedish kronor ($122 million) write-down.

The decision comes 18 months after Sweden’s state-owned airport operator announced plans to resume work on Pier G, which had previously been paused during the pandemic. The project envisaged 14 bridge-connected gates at Terminal 5, alongside expanded border-control infrastructure and baggage-handling capacity.

Swedavia said most of the costs associated with the scheme were incurred before the COVID-19 pandemic. The noncash charge will reduce fourth-quarter 2026 earnings before interest and taxes, but it will not affect the group’s cash flow or the landing and passenger charges already set for 2027.

“Following a thorough review, we have concluded that other investments will strengthen Arlanda’s competitiveness more effectively while ensuring sustainable capacity over time,” Swedavia President and CEO Mats Johannesson said.

“We continue to see long-term growth potential for Swedish aviation, but changing passenger behavior and airline requirements mean that we need to prioritize differently than we did in the past,” he said.

Swedavia reported operating income of 501 million kronor for the first nine months of 2026, up from 292 million kronor during the same period a year earlier. Net income increased to 203 million kronor from 53 million kronor, while revenue rose 10.4% to 5.63 billion kronor.

The operator invested 1.71 billion kronor during the nine-month period, with the largest project involving the renewal and upgrading of terminal infrastructure, air bridges and aircraft stands at Arlanda.

It said that traffic is continuing to grow, although the pattern differs from that anticipated when Pier G was first planned. Swedavia’s 10 airports handled 26.1 million passengers during the first nine months of 2026, an increase of 3.5% year over year. International traffic rose 4.1% to 20.5 million passengers, while domestic traffic increased 1.4% to 5.6 million.

Looking at schedules for the northern winter 2026-27 season, OAG data shows that carriers are offering approximately 5.84 million departure seats from ARN, up 0.6% from the previous winter. SAS Scandinavian Airlines remains Arlanda’s largest operator but has reduced winter capacity by 5.9% to about 2.27 million departure seats. Norwegian and Ryanair have increased capacity by 3.5% and 6.9%, respectively. New links include China Eastern Airlines’ Shanghai service and flights to Cairo operated by EgyptAir and Air Cairo.

Swedavia is also shifting resources toward airline incentives. A new charges model taking effect Jan. 1, 2027, will provide discounts for carriers offering frequent services between Arlanda and smaller airports. The program represents almost 1 billion kronor in discounts over five years and covers domestic routes as well as selected short-haul international markets.