Visby Airport Visby flygplats
IATA: VBY ICAO: ESSV
Summary
Airport type	Public (Luftfartsverket)
Operator	Swedavia
Serves	Visby
Location	Gotland, Sweden
Elevation AMSL	164 ft / 50 m
Coordinates	57°39′46″N 018°20′46″E / 57.66278°N 18.34611°E / 57.66278; 18.34611
Website	swedavia.com/visby/
Map
VBY Location within Gotland Show map of Gotland VBY VBY (Sweden) Show map of Sweden
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 03/21 2,000 6,562 Asphalt 10/28 1,100 3,609 Grass
Statistics (2016)
Passengers total 463,616 Domestic passengers 448,784 European passengers 11,428 Intercontinental passengers 2,892
AIP[1] Statistics: Transportstyrelsen[2][3]

Visby Airport (IATA: VBY, ICAO: ESSV), is located about 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) north of Visby, Gotland, Sweden.

Visby airport is Gotland's only commercial airport and the 12th largest airport in Sweden. The airport had 463,616 passengers in 2016.^[2] The traffic has a large seasonal variation with many more passengers in the summer; in 2016, it had 18,070 passengers in January and 57,302 in July. During the Almedalen Week the airport is slot coordinated.^[4]

History

Seaplanes were used for public flights to Gotland from 1925, landing in a sheltered bay near Slite, or in Lake Tingstäde.^[5]

Visby Airport was opened on 27 January 1942. The first aircraft to land was a Junkers Ju 52/3m named Göteland from AB Aerotransport.^[6] In October of the same year, regular traffic between Visby and the Swedish mainland started, in the beginning mostly with Ju 52s. In 1958, a new terminal building, a new control tower and a new runway made of asphalt was inaugurated. A runway also featured a railway crossing. The current terminal and control tower opened in 1985.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Visby Airport:

Cargo

Statistics

Busiest routes to and from Visby Airport (2022)^[10]

Rank	Airport	Passengers handled	% change 2021/22
1	Stockholm, Sweden[a]	259,833	49.2
2	Gothenburg, Sweden	15,011	40.3
3	Malmö, Sweden	10,346	335.8
4	Helsinki, Finland	3,396
5	Rhodes, Greece	2,339	882.8

Traffic by calendar year^[2]

Year	Passenger volume	Change	Domestic	Change	International	Change
2019	446,864	04.5%	433,408	04.6%	13,456	00.4%
2018	467,855	04.8%	454,483	04.2%	13,402	017.2%
2017	491,503	06.0%	474,684	05.7%	16,189	09.1%
2016	463,616	07.5%	448,784	08.0%	14,832	08.3%
2015	431,430	06.0%	415,251	06.5%	16,179	06.0%
2014	406 998		389,793		17,205

Military significance

The airport has been used for military activities from its opening in 1942, although not as a proper airbase, but as a detachment used by a mainland airbase. The airport has the only long runway on Gotland. Gotland and the airport are important in the event of a need to defend against an attack on NATO members Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and for general defense of the Baltic Sea.

Other aviation

Apart from the commercial aviation at Visby airport, there is also a flying club and a parachuting club based at the airport. And the Swedish Maritime Administration has a search and rescue helicopter based in Visby.

Unusual railroad crossing

Before the railroad was closed down on the island of Gotland, the main line from Visby to the northern parts of the island actually crossed the runway. It was one of the few airports in the world where this happened. ^[11] The railway traffic was ended in 1960, and the tracks were removed a few years later.