Flight shaming, a Swedish-born movement that urges a reduction in air travel due to its environmental impact, might be to blame for the country’s falling numbers of airline passengers. Sweden’s airport operator, Swedavia, says domestic travel is down 9%, and the number of passengers who flew through Swedish airports is down 4%.
The anti-flying movement emerged in 2017. The Swedish singer Staffan Lindberg promised to give up flying and the masses followed suit. The idea spread quickly due to increasing concerns over global warming. Then, Greta Thunberg, Swedish teenage climate activist, sailed across the Atlantic Ocean twice last year to avoid flying.
The movement has gained prominence in some European countries, such as Sweden and Germany, especially over the past year, because environmental campaigns have begun to make an impact. The aviation industry has closely monitored travel trends ever since.
Swedavia spokesman Robert Pletzin said:
We see a number of reasons concurring, such as the Swedish aviation tax, [a] weak Swedish crown, [and] softening economy worries. But also, the climate debate. The drop follows a record number of passengers in 2018 and several years of strong growth.
Last year, over 40 million passengers traveled through 10 Swedavia airports. However, the year before saw over 42 million. That’s a 9% drop in flight sales, before flight shaming the numbers were only going up. The month of December, usually one of the busiest times of the year due to holidays, fell by 7% in domestic travel and 4% in overall traffic.
In Germany, the situation is similar. The ADV industry group has predicted that takeoffs and landings at German airports in 2020 will fall by 2.9%. Many analysts last year were factoring in a potential backlash against air travel into their industry outlooks. Citi says the growing consumer awareness about carbon emissions could negatively affect the longer-term growth potential of the entire aviation industry.
In an attempt to turn things around, all Swedavia airports will have zero carbon emissions from their operations this year.
Last year, The International Air Transport Association announced plans to launch a campaign aimed at fixing the industry’s negative image. It seeks to use the drive to bolster its efforts to curb carbon emissions.
