Attached you will find the comments from the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and the Swedish Confederation of Transport Enterprises regarding the state aid guidelines for aid to airports and airlines.
Aviation plays a crucial role for Swedish businesses by facilitating international trade and business travel. Airports serve as important hubs for companies’ logistics and supply chains, contributing to regional economic growth. Access to efficient air connections is also crucial for Sweden’s competitiveness in the global market. It is generally desirable to maintain a restrictive approach to the use of state aid, favouring broader measures to promote the competitiveness of businesses.
However, it should be emphasized that aid to airports primarily supports essential infrastructure, which is a fundamental prerequisite for businesses, especially in a sparsely populated country like Sweden. To the extent that state aid is necessary to maintain good accessibility, it should provide good and long-term stable conditions for this.
Therefore, our primary request is that the Commission raises the limit in the GBER for operational aid so that airports with an annual passenger number of up to 700,000 passengers are covered. Some adjustments in the guidelines regarding operating aid needs to be done accordingly. This is needed to achieve long-term conditions for the operation of airports, and so that they can dare to make necessary investments for increased safety, sustainability, and growth.