A 27.2% quarter one increase in tourist arrivals to Denmark drove the 10.8% increase in passenger numbers at Copenhagen Airport in May, according to management.

 

At the same time, year-to-date traffic growth registered 11.5%, representing a total of 10,947,321 passengers in the first five months of this year at Copenhagen.

 

Strong airport connections with the rest of the world have also helped the airport maintain its growth momentum, while helping to the create employment in the country, according to Copenhagen Airport CEO Thomas Woldbye.

 

ACCESSIBILITY IS ‘KEY’

“In the past year, accessibility has increased substantially, especially because new routes have been opened to Copenhagen Airport and, not least, due to the many more flights out of Copenhagen. More flights out of Copenhagen and several airlines operating on the same route make it easier for tourists to find a flight that fits their plans,” he said.

 

 

Most of these tourists are Europeans with this continent contributing an additional 207,052 passengers compared with the same month of 2015. Intercontinental traffic is also growing rapidly, with management pointing to a 12.2% increase above last year’s level.

 

Woldbye continued: “The Danes like to travel long distances for their holidays and the more than 30 non-stop intercontinental routes out of Copenhagen provide a good starting point for accommodating them.

 

NEW POINTS OF BUSINESS

“But it also means that more tourists and business travellers from far away have easy access to Denmark. As an example, both Norwegian and SAS opened non-stop services to Boston in north-eastern United States this spring, opening a brand new market and giving even more Americans better possibilities of travelling to Denmark.

 

“That is one of the reasons why we apply so many resources to attract new routes to Copenhagen Airport,” he said.