15.03.2007
Copenhagen Airport among Europe's top 10

Copenhagen Airport is Europe's eighth-best airport, passengers say in a major international study.  "We're used to passengers ranking us Europe's best. This year's result doesn't surprise us: the airport's service level was not satisfactory in 2006," said CEO Niels Boserup, who has put into place a number of initiatives aimed at working together with the airlines to raise the level of service at Scandinavia's leading airport.

Copenhagen Airport ranks eighth in Europe as far as level of service is concerned. So say passengers in the Airport Service Quality (ASQ) survey, in which 41 European airports were compared. The survey's results for 2006 have just recently been published.

"We still have a high ranking in Europe, and we're still the best-located airport in Scandinavia, but our ambitions are wider than that. Since last summer, we have embarked upon extensive renovation projects and improvements to the physical conditions at the airport. We've also taken the initiative in a collaboration with the airlines to raise the general level of service," said Niels Boserup, CEO of Copenhagen Airports A/S.

Passengers need to know

To increase the level of passenger satisfaction at Copenhagen Airport, waiting times will have to be reduced at check-in, security checkpoints and baggage reclaim. Copenhagen Airport is responsible for security; the airlines are in charge of check-in and baggage delivery systems.

Since the summer of 2006, the airport has increased the number of security staff and invested 200 million kroner in a new central security checkpoint currently under construction and set to open on 1 June 2007. The airport's transit areas are also being renovated, with new facilities and more room for passengers.

"We at the airport decided that no passenger should have to wait more than 20 minutes at a security checkpoint. We'd like to see the airlines introduce similar targets for waiting times at check-in and baggage reclaim. We're receiving very positive reactions in working together with the airlines on this, so we hope to have an agreement in place with them before this summer," said Boserup.

More passengers skipping the queue

The airport has continually increased the number of free self-service check-in kiosks available as more and more airlines offer their passengers this option. Four out of ten passengers at Copenhagen Airport currently check in online or use the kiosks. This is far above the industry average, but the airport is working towards even more passengers skipping the check-in queue in future.

Many SAS passengers already check in electronically; several other airlines have also managed to shift their passengers to the electronic methods.   To encourage this process, the airport recently began a pilot project together with Sterling to set up more check-in machines and have staff standing by to help passengers use them.