11.04.2006
Passenger number 500,000,000 surprised on arrival
Steen and Trine Rønne and their nine-year-old daughter Ida had a pleasant surprise when they landed at Copenhagen Airport on the morning of 9 April. In the arrivals hall was a CPH employee ready to meet them and present them with a large Easter egg and a cheque for 10,000 Danish kroner which can be used for air travel.
“Congratulations," said Duty Manager Ole Jacobsen to the family when they walked into the arrivals hall.
“How did you know it’s my birthday?" asked young Ida a bit hesitant.
But the gifts had nothing to do with her birthday. The family – or rather a member of the family – was passenger number 500,000,000 passing through the airport since it opened in 1925.
More and more passengers
The Rønne family was just three out of the around 55,000 passengers who pass through Copenhagen Airport each day. The passenger number is growing year by year; but that does not necessarily have to be the case.
“It is no matter of course that Copenhagen Airport today welcomed passenger number 500,000,000. A city the size of Copenhagen will always have an airport, but the airport has not automatically become the hub of our region with a wide range of routes to the entire world. Thanks to the proactive efforts of the airport and the region and most recently the politicians, who abolished the passenger tax, we are able to attract a growing number of new airlines for the benefit of the development of Copenhagen and the Øresund region,” said Niels Boserup, President and CEO of Copenhagen Airports, who also pointed to the airport’s competitive charges and high level of service.
Also the Rønne family is pleased with the quality of the airport:
“Everything works perfectly when you are here. This is a good and modern airport with a pleasant atmosphere,” said Steen Rønne.
It is uncertain when passenger number one billion will pass through Copenhagen Airport. But the airport’s Statistics Department is prepared to make a conservative guess: it will be between 2021 and 2026.
