03.02.2005
Mediterranean destinations are popular

Passengers at Copenhagen Airport increasingly choose Mediterranean destinations. The number of travellers out of Copenhagen to destinations in Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Turkey rose by more than 470,000 in 2004, an 18% increase on 2003. The main drivers of this growth were destinations near the Mediterranean.

“Passenger numbers to cities such as Rome, Venice, Barcelona, Alicante, Antalya, Istanbul and Nice were significantly higher than last year,” comments Trille Tang Dalsgaard, head of Airline Relations at Copenhagen Airports A/S.

The growth in passenger numbers to cities along the Mediterranean was partly the result of increased travel activity with more package-tour passengers, whilst traffic was also boosted by new and additional travel options out of Copenhagen to Mediterranean destinations on direct scheduled flights.

“Over the past year, we saw new routes and additional airlines serving the region. Passengers now have more options, which was reflected in the passenger numbers, ” adds Trille Tang Dalsgaard.

Spain peaked

The number of passengers to and from Spain increased by 168,000 making Spain the country with the highest passenger growth – in absolute figures – in 2004, but France and Italy were also among the top five performers. At 46% growth, Turkey was the top performer – in percent – among the 20 largest country destinations out of Copenhagen.

A total of 3.5 million passengers travelled to and from Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Turkey last year, up from just over 3 million in 2003. Traffic growth to the three Mediterranean countries thus accounted for more than a third of the total growth in passenger numbers at Copenhagen Airport last year. Out of the 3.5 million passengers, 890,000 travelled on charter flights, an 8.5% increase on 2003.

Antalya the largest charter destination

The charter destination with the highest growth rate was Antalya in Turkey: passenger numbers rose by 70% and reached the 100,000-passenger mark in 2004. This made Antalya the best performer among the charter destinations out of Copenhagen, closely followed by Khania (Crete) in the second place, and Las Palmas in the third place. Las Palmas had been the most popular destination since 2000, whilst Antalya was only number eight.