06.07.2006
Niels Boserup, President & CEO of Copenhagen Airports, has made the following comments to the statement by Flemming Hansen, Danish Minister for Transport and Energy:

“I completely agree with the statement by the Danish Minister for Transport and Energy Flemming Hansen. Security is not up for discussion, the rules must be observed, and our passengers are entitled to quick and efficient security checks.
 
The situation this past Sunday and Monday was completely extraordinary due to a breakdown in our baggage facility, which resulted in unreasonably long queues at check-in. I regret very much the inconvenience this caused to our passengers.
 
The security systems at Copenhagen Airport are subject to regulatory inspection to ensure that they comply with EU requirements. The national authorities have recently found elements which do not comply 100% with the EU rules. Copenhagen Airports is following the regulatory directions, and it is correct that this resulted in unacceptably long waits for security checks for some time.
 
Through a dialogue, the authorities and Copenhagen Airports have found a model for solving the problem in which Copenhagen Airport complies with the regulatory requirements without subjecting passengers to extraordinarily long waits. 
 
The situation has now normalised, in view of the busy summer period. Yesterday, the average wait for security checks was ten minutes, and the maximum wait was about 30 minutes.
 
Although the situation is now normal, Copenhagen Airports wishes to continue to contribute to a further reduction of the general waiting time. We currently recommend that passengers are at the airport 2-2½ hours before departure on peak travel days.
 
Copenhagen Airports’ investments in security have never been larger than now. Over the past three years, we have doubled the number of security staff to currently 700. We are in the process of recruiting and training additional staff. During the busy season we put all resources to work, and we also use service assistants to help passengers prepare for the security checks. We can see that this helps reduce the waiting time.
 
In addition, the airport intends to invest DKK 150 million in a new central security checkpoint, which will be ready for use before the next summer. That will result in increased capacity and greater flexibility, thereby reducing waiting times for our passengers.”