16.03.2005
Charter flights from Spain to Denmark

The Danes began travelling to Spain on charter tours as early as the 1960s. And we are still doing it. Over the past five years, Copenhagen Airports recorded a 40% growth in passenger numbers to and from Spain. Still, some Danes might be surprised to learn that Spanish tourists have now begun travelling to Denmark – on charter tours.

“Spanish tourists are looking for new destinations. They consider trips to the Nordic region quite exotic, and they choose Denmark because of Danish design and architecture. Moreover, the excellent infrastructure between our two countries makes Denmark an easy destination to reach from Spain. In recent years, VisitDenmark – working together with players such as SAS and Maersk Air – has been working hard to attract Spanish tourists to Denmark,” comments Thomas Kastrup, Marketing Manager for City Breaks & New Markets with VisitDenmark. From 2003 to 2004 alone, the number of bed nights spent in Denmark by Spanish visitors rose by 21%.

Combined charter flights and cruises

Spanish charter flights to Copenhagen will begin on 15 May. These flights will be operated by Pullmantur Air, which will fly to Copenhagen from both Barcelona and Madrid using Boeing 747s.

Starting in the summer of 2005, Pullmantur Air will begin offering Spanish tourists trips with on Pullmantur Cruises in the Baltic Sea. Pullmantur Air will primarily carry Spanish tourists to Copenhagen for Pullman Cruises, whose ships will then depart from the Port of Copenhagen. Every Sunday until mid-September, the cruises will leave Copenhagen for Gotland, Stockholm, Tallinn, Sct. Petersburg and Helsinki.

“We consider Copenhagen to be a natural point of departure for Nordic cruises. Spanish tourists like the Danish capital, which has so many different things to offer. We also chose Copenhagen because it has a lot of experience handling cruise operations, including airport-port transfers, and it also has skilled handling agents, exactly the things we’re looking for. So far, our Nordic cruises are 50% booked, so we are convinced they will be a great success,” says Julio Carrillo, Deputy General Manager at Pullmantur, which has operated cruises for Spanish tourists in the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, the Aegean and the Carribean since 1998.