{"version":"1.9","identifier":"98093cd1-899e-4970-a00f-0d9cdd3e8e90","language":"en-US","title":"Swedavia scraps a new pier at Stockholm Arlanda and bets on airline fee discounts instead","layout":{"columns":7,"width":1024,"margin":32,"gutter":20},"componentLayouts":{"text":{"columnStart":0,"columnSpan":7,"maximumContentWidth":720,"margin":{"top":12,"bottom":12}},"photo":{"columnStart":0,"columnSpan":7,"margin":{"top":20,"bottom":20}}},"componentTextStyles":{"default":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":18,"lineHeight":29,"textColor":"#171717"},"headline":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue-Bold","fontSize":36,"lineHeight":42,"conditional":[{"conditions":{"maxViewportWidth":480},"fontSize":28,"lineHeight":34}]},"intro":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":20,"lineHeight":28,"textColor":"#555555"},"caption":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":13,"lineHeight":19,"textColor":"#666666"},"byline":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":13,"lineHeight":20,"textColor":"#666666"},"body":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":18,"lineHeight":29,"paragraphSpacingAfter":14,"linkStyle":{"textColor":"#00704a"}}},"metadata":{"canonicalURL":"https://www.loungefrog.com/news/swedavia-arlanda-new-pier-scrapped-airline-fee-discounts-november-2026","datePublished":"2026-11-02T11:58:06.895857Z","dateModified":"2026-11-02T11:58:31.227197Z","authors":["Patrick Karsh"],"excerpt":"Swedavia has ended design work on a new Arlanda pier, writing down about SEK 1.2 billion. From 2027, airlines that fly often to Arlanda get fee discounts.","thumbnailURL":"https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/98093cd1-899e-4970-a00f-0d9cdd3e8e90/ba253c3dbf6c68a44b1cf2f3109d2c3e.jpg","keywords":["airport"],"generatorName":"Frog News","generatorVersion":"1.0"},"components":[{"role":"title","text":"Swedavia scraps a new pier at Stockholm Arlanda and bets on airline fee discounts instead","textStyle":"headline","layout":"text"},{"role":"intro","text":"Swedavia has ended design work on a new Arlanda pier, writing down about SEK 1.2 billion. From 2027, airlines that fly often to Arlanda get fee discounts.","textStyle":"intro","layout":"text"},{"role":"byline","text":"By Patrick Karsh · Published November 2, 2026","textStyle":"byline","layout":"text"},{"role":"photo","URL":"https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/98093cd1-899e-4970-a00f-0d9cdd3e8e90/ba253c3dbf6c68a44b1cf2f3109d2c3e.jpg","caption":"Stockholm Arlanda Airport, where Swedavia has ended design work on a new pier · Brorsson at English Wikipedia — CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)","accessibilityCaption":"Stockholm Arlanda Airport, where Swedavia has ended design work on a new pier","layout":"photo"},{"role":"caption","text":"Stockholm Arlanda Airport, where Swedavia has ended design work on a new pier · Brorsson at English Wikipedia — CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)","textStyle":"caption","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"Stockholm Arlanda will not get the new pier its owner has been planning for years. Swedavia, the company that runs Arlanda and nine other Swedish airports, said on November 2 that its board has ended the design work for a new pier at the airport. That work was the step before any final decision to build it.\n\nFor travelers, the short version is this: the gates, lounges and terminals you use at Arlanda today are the ones you should expect to keep using for a while. Swedavia says it will put its money into other projects at Arlanda that it can finish sooner.","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"## Why Swedavia changed course\n\nIn [its announcement](https://news.cision.com/se/swedavia-ab/r/swedavia-omprioriterar-planerade-investeringar-for-att-starka-arlandas-konkurrenskraft,c4418296), which was published in Swedish, Swedavia says it looked again at future capacity needs, other ways to meet them, and the cost of building. It still expects air travel to keep growing over the long term. But it says the way people travel, and what airlines need, over the next ten years call for different steps than the extra space a new pier would add.\n\nCEO Mats Johannesson says the company has to start from how things really look and do what is best for airlines and passengers. He adds that it takes courage to change direction.\n\nSwedavia did not say which projects will move up the list now. It only says the decision lets important work at Arlanda happen faster.\n\n## The cost of stopping\n\nThe pier project was not just a sketch. Swedavia says it will write down most of the money already spent on it that has not yet been booked as an asset. It puts that figure at about SEK 1.2 billion. Most of it was spent before the COVID-19 pandemic.\n\nThe write-down will hit Swedavia's operating profit in the fourth quarter of 2026. The company says it will not affect its cash flow. It also says that needing less capital should help keep the fees it charges airlines competitive over time. The decision does not change landing or passenger charges for 2027.\n\n## A new deal for airlines from January\n\nThe pier news came three days after a second Arlanda announcement. On October 30, Swedavia [said](https://news.cision.com/se/swedavia-ab/r/swedavia-gor-historisk-satsning-pa-arlanda---nya-villkor-ska-starka-flyget-i-hela-sverige,c4417684) it will bring in a new charging model for airlines on January 1, 2027. It calls this the biggest change of its kind in the company's history.\n\nUnder the new model, airlines that fly often between Arlanda and smaller airports get large discounts on their landing and passenger charges. Swedavia names routes from Arlanda to Gothenburg, Malmö and Luleå at home, and to Gdansk and Bergen abroad, as examples. It says the discounts are worth close to SEK 1 billion over five years. Its existing programs for new routes and extra flights stay in place.\n\nRead together, the two releases point the same way. Swedavia wants Arlanda to work as Sweden's main hub, with many flights feeding it from around the country and nearby cities. It is choosing to pay airlines to fly more often rather than to build a large new pier first.\n\nWhether those discounts turn into more flights or lower fares is up to the airlines. Swedavia has not said which carriers have signed up or how much any single route would save.\n\n## What it means at the airport\n\nNothing changes at Arlanda right away. The airport's terminals keep running as they do now, and no lounge has been announced as closing or opening because of this decision.\n\nIf you are passing through, you have several places to wait. [SAS Lounge](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/arn-sas-lounge) and [SAS Lounge by Mastercard](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/arn-sas-lounge-by-mastercard) serve SAS and SkyTeam premium flyers. Card holders can look at the [American Express Lounge by Pontus Frithiof](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/arn-american-express-lounge-by-pontus-frithiof). [Priority Pass](https://lounge-frog-api.onrender.com/api/v1/go/77243838-574a-4032-9c19-8ef6a86c5798?site=lounge) members have the two Aspire lounges, one on the [Schengen side](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/arn-aspire-lounge-schengen) and one on the [non-Schengen side](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/arn-aspire-lounge-non-schengen), plus the [Pearl Lounge in Terminal 2](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/arn-pearl-lounge-terminal-2) and the [Pearl Lounge at Gate C37](https://www.loungefrog.com/lounges/arn-pearl-lounge-gate-c37).\n\nCheck which side of passport control your flight leaves from before you pick one. A Schengen lounge will not help on a flight to London or New York.\n\nOur [Arlanda airport guide](https://www.loungefrog.com/airports/arn) lists every lounge with its access rules, and [SAS](https://www.loungefrog.com/airlines/sk) has more on the airline that uses Arlanda as one of its hubs.","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"}]}