26.03.2004
Growth in traffic to Asia

Beginning on 28 March, passengers can fly non-stop from Copenhagen Airport to Shanghai. Shanghai will be the fifth destination from CPH to Asia. Traffic to Asia has grown rapidly in the past five years. The growth rate from 1998 to 2003 was almost 65%. However, the growth rate would have been even higher if traffic to China and Singapore had not been hit by SARS. Air traffic statistics for the first few months of 2004 now show that the passengers have returned.
 
“In fact, we believe that the market is even bigger than what we can see off hand from our traffic statistics. The reason is that we are unable to register how many passengers travel to Asia on Lufthansa via Frankfurt or Munich, or on Finnair via Helsinki,” says Trille Tang Dalsgaard, head of Airline Relations at CPH. Dalsgaard is very pleased that SAS has decided to add Shanghai to its overseas destinations, as the move strengthens Copenhagen Airport’s hub position.
 
SAS will be flying to Shanghai on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. The departure time from Copenhagen is 3.15 p.m. with next day arrival in Shanghai at 7.35 a.m. The flight takes more than ten hours and will be operated using Airbus 340-300 aircraft. From Shanghai, the departure time will be 10.30 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with arrival in Copenhagen at 3.40 pm. According to SAS, the intention is to increase the frequencies to daily operations.
 
The four other destinations in Asia served from Copenhagen Airport are: Bangkok, Beijing, Singapore and Tokyo.