EXPLAINED: What's behind the queues at Stockholm Arlanda airport?
Travellers are reporting queues over an hour long at Stockholm's Arlanda airport. What's going on and how long is it expected to last?
What's the situation at Stockholm Arlanda airport?
On Friday morning, there were queues lasting over an hour at Arlanda's security controls. By 10am, they had been reduced to below half an hour, according to the live update the airport operator, Swedavia, maintains on its website here.
Swedavia first began warning of long queue times on Monday, saying the queues were the result of a resurgence in travel combined with staffing shortages at Avarn, the contractor responsible for managing the security checks.
"The wait times are due to a staff shortage with our security services contractor – which is caused by ongoing recruitment and absences due to illness," the airport said on its website.
What are travellers saying?
Twitter is predictably awash with angry comments from travellers, including some well-known commentators.
The terrorism researcher Magnus Ranstorp resorted to capital letters to bemoan the "CATASTROPHE" at the airport.
Fullständig KATASTROF på Arlanda. Köer ringlar sig från Terminal 4 till Terminal 5 för att komma igenom säkerhetskontroller. Så misskött av @Swedavia och Avarn.
— Magnus Ranstorp (@MagnusRanstorp) May 20, 2022
The Financial Times' Nordic Correspondent also compared the situation at Arlanda unfavourably with the smooth controls at Helsinki Airport
"Never seen anything like it and sounds like might be worse today. In Terminal 5 both queues, SAS and Norwegian, were well over 100 metres long," he told The Local. "It took me 50 minutes to get through security. Don't think it's ever taken more than 10 in the Nordics before."
After the supreme efficency of Helsinki Airport, afraid to say that @Arlanda is letting the side down with the longest security queues I've ever seen here (pic here is after 30 mins already). Sweden needs to learn from the Finns... pic.twitter.com/UctybbjrZv
— Richard Milne (@rmilneNordic) May 18, 2022
What should you do if you are travelling through Stockholm Arlanda at the moment?
Swedavia recommends that you arrive "well in advance" when taking a flight. You can contact your airline here to find out when their check-ins and baggage drops open.
Swedavia also recommends that you do everything possible to speed up the check-in process, such as:
- checking in from home
- packing hand baggage to make screening faster
- checking the need for a face covering in advance
- checking that you have the right travel documents ready
If you can't check in from home, Swedavia recommends seeing if you can check in using an automated machine at the airport.
What is the airport doing to to improve the situation?
On June 15th, the airport is reopening Terminal 4, which might help somewhat, although the airport warns that as staffing is the major problem, having more space will not fully solve the problem over the summer.
In a press release issued on Friday, Svedavia's chief operations officer, Peder Grunditz, said opening a new terminal was "an important measure".
"We are now going to have the three biggest terminals back in operation for the first time since the pandemic," he said.
The company and Avarn are also making "big recruitment efforts" and taking "operational measures" to improve the queue situation, although the "challenging labour market" made that difficult.
When will waiting times return to normal?
In his press release, Grunditz conceded that waiting times were not likely to return to normal during the summer, due to the rapid growth in the number of people taking flights.
"Even though we expect gradual improvements, the queuing situation is going to continue to be challenging during periods over the summer," he said.
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What's the situation at Stockholm Arlanda airport?
On Friday morning, there were queues lasting over an hour at Arlanda's security controls. By 10am, they had been reduced to below half an hour, according to the live update the airport operator, Swedavia, maintains on its website here.
Swedavia first began warning of long queue times on Monday, saying the queues were the result of a resurgence in travel combined with staffing shortages at Avarn, the contractor responsible for managing the security checks.
"The wait times are due to a staff shortage with our security services contractor – which is caused by ongoing recruitment and absences due to illness," the airport said on its website.
What are travellers saying?
Twitter is predictably awash with angry comments from travellers, including some well-known commentators.
The terrorism researcher Magnus Ranstorp resorted to capital letters to bemoan the "CATASTROPHE" at the airport.
Fullständig KATASTROF på Arlanda. Köer ringlar sig från Terminal 4 till Terminal 5 för att komma igenom säkerhetskontroller. Så misskött av @Swedavia och Avarn.
— Magnus Ranstorp (@MagnusRanstorp) May 20, 2022
The Financial Times' Nordic Correspondent also compared the situation at Arlanda unfavourably with the smooth controls at Helsinki Airport
"Never seen anything like it and sounds like might be worse today. In Terminal 5 both queues, SAS and Norwegian, were well over 100 metres long," he told The Local. "It took me 50 minutes to get through security. Don't think it's ever taken more than 10 in the Nordics before."
After the supreme efficency of Helsinki Airport, afraid to say that @Arlanda is letting the side down with the longest security queues I've ever seen here (pic here is after 30 mins already). Sweden needs to learn from the Finns... pic.twitter.com/UctybbjrZv
— Richard Milne (@rmilneNordic) May 18, 2022
What should you do if you are travelling through Stockholm Arlanda at the moment?
Swedavia recommends that you arrive "well in advance" when taking a flight. You can contact your airline here to find out when their check-ins and baggage drops open.
Swedavia also recommends that you do everything possible to speed up the check-in process, such as:
- checking in from home
- packing hand baggage to make screening faster
- checking the need for a face covering in advance
- checking that you have the right travel documents ready
If you can't check in from home, Swedavia recommends seeing if you can check in using an automated machine at the airport.
What is the airport doing to to improve the situation?
On June 15th, the airport is reopening Terminal 4, which might help somewhat, although the airport warns that as staffing is the major problem, having more space will not fully solve the problem over the summer.
In a press release issued on Friday, Svedavia's chief operations officer, Peder Grunditz, said opening a new terminal was "an important measure".
"We are now going to have the three biggest terminals back in operation for the first time since the pandemic," he said.
The company and Avarn are also making "big recruitment efforts" and taking "operational measures" to improve the queue situation, although the "challenging labour market" made that difficult.
When will waiting times return to normal?
In his press release, Grunditz conceded that waiting times were not likely to return to normal during the summer, due to the rapid growth in the number of people taking flights.
"Even though we expect gradual improvements, the queuing situation is going to continue to be challenging during periods over the summer," he said.
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