08.07.2005
Cheaper tickets behind travel boom to southern Europe

The travel pattern at Copenhagen Airport has changed in recent years: In particular, there are more passengers on the flights to southern and eastern European and overseas destinations. The bridges across the Øresund and the Great Belt have led to fewer passengers on flights to Sweden and to Danish domestic destinations. Overall, Copenhagen Airport had 1.5 million more passengers last year than in 1999.

Southern and eastern Europe and the overseas destinations are the main drivers of the growth in passenger numbers out of Copenhagen Airport over the past five years according to a comparison of passenger numbers in 1999 and 2004.

As a whole, passenger numbers to southern European countries (including Turkey) out of Copenhagen rose by 35% - from 2.2 million passengers in 1999 to almost three million last year. Spanish, Italian and French destinations were the main contributors to the growth. The number of passengers to and from Spain alone increased by more than 330,000, or 40%. Percentagewise, the top performer of the region was Turkey, with a growth rate of 88%.

“The growth in passenger numbers to southern European destinations is both a result of a general boom in consumption in society and the increased number of low-fare tickets and new routes offered by the low-cost carriers,” says Uffe Paludan, head of research at the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies.

Low-fares make southern Europeans travel to Denmark

Both scheduled airlines and charter airlines have seen passenger numbers increase, but the main driver behind the growth is the low-cost airlines. Whilst these airlines had a market share of close to nil in 1999, 12% of passengers to southern European destinations travelled on low-cost airlines last year. On the other hand, the charter airlines have seen their combined market share fall from almost 50% to just over one-third.

The fact that low fares are not only attracting more passengers from Denmark to southern Europe, but that also the number of southern Europeans travelling to Denmark is increasing is confirmed by Danish tourist organisation VisitDenmark.

“Denmark has become more accessible due to the intensified competition among the airlines. In addition, the Danish tourist industry has increased its marketing efforts in southern Europe. These two factors combined have had the effect that more southern Europeans are visiting Denmark,” comments Thomas Kastrup, Marketing Manager of VisitDenmark. In recent years, the organisation has been active on the Spanish market, which has seen the highest growth rate in terms of number of bed nights in Denmark.

More people are making longer trips

Another significant growth market is eastern Europe, where the number of passengers has increased by 32% over five years. This has lifted the Czech Republic into the group of the 20 largest destinations out of Copenhagen Airport. Poland used to be the only eastern European country the top-20 list. A number of the eastern European countries have become members of the EU, and the region is generally characterised by economic growth.

Passenger numbers on overseas routes out of Copenhagen grew by 21%, not least as a result of increased traffic to the USA, which rose by 268,000 passengers or 60%. Traffic to Asia also showed significant growth: traffic to Thailand alone grew by 118,000 passengers or 52%.

The growth on overseas routes was in line with the trends recorded in recent years by the Association of Danish Travel Agents and Tour Operators.

”Whereas people used to travel on holiday once a year inside Europe, they now typically take one longer holiday outside Europe and one or two trips to European destinations,” comments Lars Thykier, Managing Director of the Association.

Norway is the top destination

In absolute figures, the peak performer in terms of passenger growth was our neighbouring country Norway with 366,000 more passengers than five years earlier. Conversely, a corresponding fall was seen in the number of air passengers to and from Sweden, with 928,000 fewer passengers in 2004 than in 1999, equal to a 33% decline, which was mainly due to the opening of the Øresund bridge in the summer of 2000.

However, part of the decline is due to the method of recording of Swedish passengers in Copenhagen Airport’s statistics. When the new bridge to Sweden was opened, the catamaran ferries between Sweden and the airport were discontinued, and whilst the half a million passengers taking the ferry per year used to be recorded as passengers travelling between Sweden and Copenhagen Airport, the growing number of Swedish passengers who now travel to the airport via the Øresund bridge are not accounted for in this way.

“In addition to the bridge, the structural changes implemented by SAS also play a role, as it has led to more direct routes, especially out of Stockholm. Part of this traffic used to go via Copenhagen,” comments Uffe Paludan of the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies.

Passenger tax hampers growth

Danish domestic air traffic also saw a dramatic fall, by 527,000 passengers or almost 28%. The fixed link across the Great Belt is the key factor in this respect, but the price structure on the domestic routes also plays a major role, Uffe Paludan emphasises.

“Abolishment of the DKK 75 government tax would probably have the effect that the low-cost airlines would move into the domestic market, for instance to Aalborg. In the longer term, this would change the price structure and, thus, travel patterns, with more passengers choosing domestic flights,” says Paludan.

At more than 19 million passengers last year, passenger numbers at Copenhagen Airport had grown by 1.5 million since 1999.