Route opportunities
Europe
Oslo Airport has a well-developed European route network, but there are still some gaps.
Madrid is the most obvious missing allyear route in Oslo Airport’s European network. In 2007 and 2008, when both Norwegian and SAS operated direct OSL-MAD services, there were 86,000 passengers on the route. SAS will fly a summer route June to August in 2011.
The Swedish city of Umeå, with 23,000 passengers, could be an opportunity. Stuttgart and Bucharest each have around 20,000 passengers to and from Oslo.
Asia
The route network to Asia consists of only four routes, a daily service by Thai to Bangkok, a five-weekly service by Qatar Airways to Doha (from Oct 5, 2011), a thrice-weekly service by PIA to Lahore/Islamabad and a seasonal service by Norwegian to Dubai. There is plenty of opportunity for new services. Three Chinese cities feature among the top unserved destinations: Beijing (34,000), Hong Kong (21,000) and Shanghai (20,000). In total, there were 81,000 passengers between Oslo and China in 2009.
Manila (32,000) and Singapore (29,000) are also in strong demand from Oslo. There are strong business links between Oslo and these cities.
The market from Oslo to India is growing fast, and in 2009 there were 29,000 passengers between Oslo and Delhi and a total of 55,000 passengers between Oslo and India.
Carriers with a strong route network from the Middle East to Asia/Pacific are well positioned to exploit these route opportunies with a direct service from Oslo to either Abu Dhabi, Dubai or Bahrain.
North America
Currently there are only two direct services between Oslo and the USA. Continental operates 9 times weekly and SAS operates a daily service to Newark. With 472,000 passengers travelling between Oslo and the USA, there is still room for more direct services.
Los Angeles (30,000) and San Francisco (27,000) are the biggest unserved destinations, followed by Chicago (23,000) and Minneapolis/St. Paul (22,000). A route to one of the to latter airports or other major hubs could also capture much transfer traffic to large parts of the USA.
Top 20 unserved routes in 2009 sorted by number of passengers
| Destination | Passengers | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madrid | 43,000 |
| 2 | Beijing | 34,000 |
| 3 | Manila | 32,000 |
| 4 | Los Angeles | 30,000 |
| 5 | Singapore | 29,000 |
| 6 | Delhi | 29,000 |
| 7 | San Francisco | 27,000 |
| 8 | Athens | 24,000 |
| 9 | Sydney | 24,000 |
| 10 | Umeå | 23,000 |
| 11 | Tokyo | 23,000 |
| 12 | Chicago | 23,000 |
| 13 | Minneapolis/St. Paul | 22,000 |
| 14 | Orlando | 21,000 |
| 15 | Hong Kong | 21,000 |
| 16 | Stuttgart | 20,000 |
| 17 | Shanghai | 20,000 |
| 18 | Boston | 20,000 |
| 19 | Bucharest | 19,000 |
| 20 | Washington | 19,000 |
Top 20 underserved routes in 2009 sorted by number of indirect passengers
| Destination | Indirect | Direct | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | 86,201 | 37,061 | 123,262 |
| 2 | Bangkok | 73,159 | 35,144 | 108,303 |
| 3 | Milan | 36,934 | 31,891 | 68,825 |
| 4 | Manchester | 29,048 | 40,835 | 69,883 |
| 5 | Rome | 28,770 | 112,408 | 141,178 |
| 6 | Barcelona | 23,388 | 96,733 | 120,121 |
| 7 | Nice | 22,622 | 109,531 | 132,153 |
| 8 | Berlin | 21,922 | 162,522 | 184,444 |
| 9 | Venice | 20,845 | 11,046 | 31,891 |
| 10 | Geneva | 19,105 | 38,716 | 57,821 |
| 11 | Vienna | 18,985 | 54,264 | 73,249 |
| 12 | Paris | 16,562 | 264,301 | 280,863 |
| 13 | Dubai | 16,395 | 15,544 | 31,939 |
| 14 | Zurich | 15,905 | 85,069 | 100,974 |
| 15 | Munich | 14,332 | 113,752 | 128,084 |
| 16 | Moscow | 14,166 | 27,532 | 41,698 |
| 17 | Aarhus | 13,467 | 8,643 | 22,110 |
| 18 | Vilnius | 13,380 | 35,787 | 49,167 |
| 19 | Helsinki | 13,143 | 148,644 | 161,787 |
| 20 | Dublin | 12,235 | 44,490 | 56,725 |
