Bergen Airport Flesland (BGO)

Lufthansa’s decision to open a direct route to Frankfurt fills a significant network gap in BGO´s network. Still, the airport could accommodate further routes to and from other major German markets. In particular, we see potential for a direct service to the Bavarian city of Munich (population 1.3 million, and six million in the wider metropolitan area).

Germany is the most important tourism source market for Bergen and The Fjords. Over the last few years, Bergen has received numerous summer charters from Hamburg and Frankfurt; the region clearly remains as popular as ever with Germans – which suggest that another service, to Munich, would be successful.

Since the start of Norwegian’s expansion at BGO in 2006, new low-cost routes to Spain – including Alicante, Malaga, Murcia and Gran Canaria – have proved extremely popular outbound. We see the next stage of route expansion to shift focus slightly, away from the saturated coastal resorts, to incorporate the country’s two primary cities, Barcelona and Madrid.

Bergen naturally would like to include direct low-cost flights to Spain’s major business and economic centres, in addition to its ever-popular leisure markets. Norwegian or SAS could easily make a new Spanish route from Bergen successful. Airlines interested in these possibilities should consider:

• Spanish interest in Bergen and The Fjords as holiday destinations increased by 10 per cent in 2007
• Madrid and Barcelona are good source markets to grow inbound volumes
• Demand both ways

Russians have arrived in Bergen on summer charters for many years. On the scheduled side, Norwegian serves Moscow and St. Petersburg from Oslo, Aeroflot operates a direct Oslo-Moscow service and Widerøe will start up flights to Russia in August 2008, operating a three times a week service from Kirkenes to Murmansk – a signal of the expanded traffic potential between Russia and Norway.

The case for Bergen and Russia has been considered on the basis of leisure and business demand. BGO would particularly like to see Aeroflot Nord operate a service direct from Bergen to St. Petersburg.

• Commercial relations between Norway and Russia have increased dramatically
• Demand both ways

Bergen would benefit from a regular scheduled route to the Finnish capital of Helsinki, an established gateway to the Far Eastern markets. BGO recognises the progress that Finnair has made expanding its route network from Helsinki to Asia. Japan, in particular, is an important source market for the tourism industry in Hordaland. In 2007, Japanese visitors spent 40,000 hotel room nights in the county.

Since interest in Norway and The Fjords extends beyond the boundaries of Europe, BGO is perfectly positioned to host long-haul airline business, whether through existing hubs or direct from the source market.

Visit Bergen, Innovation Norway, SAS and a group of Japanese tour operators recently announced the launch of a direct long-haul charter service from Japan to Bergen. We hope that this is just the first step in the development of BGO as long-haul destination.

BGO is keen to extend its partnerships with overseas tour operators, to bring more groups from outside Europe straight to The Fjords. The airport and Visit Bergen would particularly like to explore the possibility of bringing more direct long-haul charters from Asia (Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea) and the Middle East (for example, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Egypt).

We are naturally always very keen to consult with tour operators about possible new package tours that could be established from Bergen and we encourage further intensive market research in our region to clarify the market uptake for each prospective new destination.

Brazil, Florida and Dubai are fast becoming very popular with the Scandinavian market.