Territorial structure of passenger air transport in the Arctic countries (case of Norway, Sweden and Finland)

The article analyses the territorial structure of air transportation in the Arctic countries of the world (on the example of Norway, Sweden and Finland). The airport network and domestic passenger air traffic of the mentioned countries are considered. There is a clear territorial “division” in the airport network of all three countries: southern airports are much more actively involved in international air transportation than other airports. Due to the lack of statistical data necessary to analyze the territorial structure of domestic passenger air traffic in Norway, Sweden and Finland, an author’s methodology has been developed. This methodology allows calculating passenger traffic values on individual air lines. The methodology is universal and can be applied to calculate the values of the mentioned indicator in any region of the world. Based on the data obtained, the cartographic schemes were constructed that allowed to identify the peculiarities of the organization of air transportation in each of the countries under consideration: Finland is characterized by a direct organization model (“point-to-point”), Norway is characterized by a connecting organization model (“hub and spoke”), Sweden is characterized by a direct in combination with a connecting organization model (mixed). In addition, the cartographic scheme based on calculated data for 2020 (the year of active spread of the coronavirus) allowed to identify “resilient” regional air hubs of the countries under consideration.