Stockholm Arlanda Airport selected for US preclearance
Stockholm Arlanda Airport has been selected, as one of ten airports in the world, by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (US CBP) to introduce so-called US preclearance. The announcement means that concrete discussions between Sweden and US CBP will begin in order to ease connections between Sweden and the United States.
About 650 000 people travelled between Sweden and the United States in 2014. Currently five direct routes are offered between the two countries, and two more will start in the autumn.
About half of the passengers between Sweden and the United States go via other European airports such as Schiphol, Heathrow and Frankfurt. The announcement made today means that US border control eventually will be carried out at departure from Stockholm Arlanda Airport instead of upon arrival to the United States. Thereby travelling will be smoother and the conditions for more direct connections are strengthened.
- US preclearance strengthens Stockholm Arlanda Airport's role as the hub for aviation in Scandinavia. Our application has been greatly supported by both the Swedish Government and the business world, and we will now move ahead with full speed in order to attract more direct routes to Stockholm Arlanda Airport, says Torborg Chetkovich, group CEO of Swedavia.
According to studies carried out by Swedavia, more than 70 percent of today's US passengers support the introduction of US preclearance. Above all they welcome the opportunity to be able to change to connecting flights more smoothly. The construction process for the US preclearance facility, which will be implemented in the lower level of the F-pier in Terminal 5, is estimated at 1 - 1.5 years. Prior to this, a more detailed discussion is required between Swedavia and the US authorities regarding the design of the facility.
In February 2015 the Swedish Government announced the intention to allow for inclusion of US preclearance at Stockholm Arlanda Airport. A final introduction of US preclearance is subject to approval by Swedish and American authorities. The focus on US preclearance is part of Swedavia´s adopted decision to invest SEK 13 billion in order to develop Stockholm Arlanda Airport.
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