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Flights at Longyearbyen Airport, after surging in 2008, are down sharply for the first half of 2009, including a 37.1 percent drop in cargo and route charter flights that provide most of the airport's income.

The 25.7 percent drop in overall traffic from Jan. 1 to June 30 includes a relatively small 8 percent drop in passengers, all totals roughly matching levels from 2007. The global economic recession is cited as part of the reason for the drop, but tourism and government officials have also noted traffic in 2008 got a boost from landmark events such as the International Polar Year and the opening of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.

Svalbard's decline is the largest among the 46 Norwegian airports operated by Avinor, which issues the flight reports. The agency reported a 4.5 percent drop nationwide during the first half of 2009 with wide variations defying size and region. Oslo, for instance, dropped 10 percent, Bergen 1.3 percent and the small Arctic city of Kirkenes 2.5 percent.

Most of the airport's income comes from movement-related activity such as takeoff fees, handling and deicing services rather than passenger-related charges such as terminal and security fees, said Ole M. Rambech, the airport's manager.

"What's interesting is when it comes to income is route charter and freight," he said. "Those are the movements that are giving us income."

The drop in traffic, combined with an abundance of cars parked in the lot for long stretches while local residents are on vacation, has Rambech suggesting fees may be necessary starting this fall or next spring.

"We are the only one in Norway with (a free) system," he told Svalbardposten. "It is partly a curiosity and also nice, but we cannot use several million kroner to expand the parking lot."

Rambech, in a follow-up e-mail, stated there won't be any cutbacks in safety measures at the airport, but "we are reducing costs where possible."

Scandinavian Airlines reported a 14.1 percent drop in passenger traffic in June compared to a year ago due to the recession, although the ratio of seats filled remains largely unchanged after numerous cost-cutting measures. One of those was eliminating one of two daily flights between Tromsø and Longyearbyen in May, causing delays in mail and other services.

Tourism officials have said available flights this year are both more expensive and harder to find due to reduced capacity, which is also due to Norwegian Airlines' decision not to fly to Svalbard this year.

Rambech noted he does not have specific data for how full flights have been.

"We do not have and do not try to calculate the load factors," he wrote. "That is the airlines' domain. There have been periods when it was difficult to get tickets for Svalbard this year and of course in-demand ticket price is always a factor. Last year there was competition on Svalbard with both SAS and Norwegian flying."

There are signs the economy may be bottoming out or improving, including forecasts by economic experts that Norway's kroner will fare the strongest of 48 currencies against the Euro during the next year. But Rambech isn't predicting when airport traffic might reverse its decline.

"My crystal ball is not quite clear on that," he wrote. "Most likely the trend will follow the general trends of the financial recession."

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