Airport terminology
ACD
Airport Coordination Denmark A/S (50% owned by CPH). ACD co-ordinates slot allocation.
ACI
Airport Council International. An international association of more than 450 airports.
AEA
The Association of European Airlines. An association of the largest European scheduled airlines.
Air transport movement (ATM)
Take-offs and landings by aircraft. One ATM = one take-off +one landing.
Airfield
An area designated for landing, take-off and manoeuvring of aircraft.
Airfield management
An organisation approved by the Danish Civil Aviation Administration for handling day-to-day operation of an airfield or the civil area of a military airbase.
Airfield manager
The head of airfield management.
Airfield service
A service to ensure that the airfield and its equipment are in proper condition.
Airfield, public
An airfield approved by the Danish Civil Aviation Administration, which is open to the public.
Airport ID card
ID card held by airport staff.
Airport Office
CPH’s official office, from which GA flights are handled (including payment of {traffic charges). The office acts as CPH’s representative office and is open round the clock. Representatives from the press, etc. must report to the Airport Office for photography and access permits.
Airside
The area after security check, where only passengers and staff are allowed.
Approach area
The area in which approach to an airfield takes place.
Apron
An area designated for aircraft during embarkation and disembarkation of passengers, loading and unloading of cargo, fuelling, parking and maintenance.
Bird control
A special team at the airport working to prevent collisions with birds. Two employees are patrolling the 12 sq. km airport area round the clock to scare birds away from the areas where aircraft take off and land.
Birdstrike
A collision between an aircraft and one or more birds.
Catchment area
The number of people living within an area in which people have approximately two hours of transport by bus, car or train to an airport. The size of the catchment area is of great importance to an airline’s choice of routes and thus of airports. There are 5.5 million people in the CPH catchment area.
CPH
IATA code for Copenhagen Airport.
Departure area
The area in which departure from to an airfield takes place.
ECAC
European Civil Aviation Conference. A forum for collaboration among and co-ordination by European national authorities of civil air transport issues.
EKCH
ICAO code for Copenhagen Airport.
EKRK
ICAO code for Roskilde Airport.
Feeder-traffic
Traffic from Norway, Sweden, the Baltic States, Poland and northern Germany that is being ’fed’ into a hub – CPH. A large part of the traffic to other destinations in Europe or overseas destinations leaves from there.
GA flight
A flight by a light aircraft that is not in scheduled service – for instance a private flight.
Gate
An area where passengers can stay immediately before their flight begins.
Grandfather rights
When an airline applies for a slot, the airline is entitled to the allocated slot during a summer or winter period, running from March to October or from October to March, respectively. If the airline uses the allocated slot 80% or more, it will get socalled grandfather rights, meaning that the airline will automatically get the same slot for the next period. If the airline does not use 80% of an allocated slot, it must file a new application with the slot co-ordinator to get the same slot. However, the airline may risk that another airline gets ahead of it, applies for and is allocated that particular slot. Slots are allocated on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Handling
Handling of passengers, baggage and cargo, etc. There are three handling companies at Copenhagen Airport: SAS Ground Services Denmark A/S (SGS), Novia and Servisair.
Helicopter take-off and landing area
An area reserved for take-off and landing by helicopter.
Hub
A traffic hub (Copenhagen Airport is the traffic hub of SAS and the Star Alliance).
IATA
International Air Transport Association. A global association of more than 200 airlines.
ICAO
International Civil Aviation Organisation. A UN body for international civil aviation.
IP
Important person. A famous person such as Tina Turner, Sting and Tom Jones. An IP cannot use the King’s Room and, contrary to VIPs, IPs must pay for the service they receive from the airport.
Jet bridge
The bridge connecting an aircraft to the gate so that passengers can embark and disembark without getting their feet wet.
King’s Room
The King’s Room is the Room which VIPs use on departure. It consists of a lobby with a check-in counter, the actual King’s Room, Queen’s Room, two additional VIP rooms, a kitchen and a room for chauffeurs. The King’s Room is used by the Danish royal family, the Chairman of the Danish Parliament, the Danish Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and their guests. Moreover, the King’s Room is used for foreign heads of state (royal families and presidents), who are often in transit at CPH.
Landside
The area of an airport where everybody is allowed.
Lounge
Private waiting rooms. There are five lounges at Copenhagen Airport: the SAS Business Lounge, the SAS Scandinavian Lounge, the Servisair Executive Lounge, the British Airways Lounge and the Novia Lounge.
Manoeuvring area
The part of an airport used for take-off, landing and taxiing, except for the apron.
Marshaller
A person, who guides aircraft to their stands.
Off-peak
Periods outside peak period/rush hour.
OneWorld
An alliance of the following airlines: American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Lan Chile, Malev, Qantas and Royal Jordanian.
Operations Centre (OC)
The airport’s local alarm centre and monitoring centre.
Pax
Passenger.
Peak
Peak period/airport rush hour.
Pier
The halls leading from the airport transit area to the departure gates.
Queen’s Room
The room (next to the King’s Room) where the Queen 'signs in and out of the country, and formally leaves responsibility to either Crown Prince Frederik, Prince Joachim or Princess Benedikte.
Remote stand
A {stand} that is not located immediately by the airport buildings.
Restricted area of an airfield
The part of an airfield restricted by signs or the like for handling of air traffic and passenger and cargo handling.
RKE
IATA code for Roskilde Airport.
Runway
A designated area used for aircraft take-offs and landings. There are three runways at Copenhagen Airport.
Safety
Measures taken in the airport area to prevent acts that may cause danger or inconvenience to traffic at the airport.
Security
Measures taken on entry to the airside area to prevent illegal acts against civil aviation.
Security check
A manual or technical check to detect weapons, objects or substances which must it be assumed can be used in an illegal act against civil aviation.
Security stand
A stand that can be used to park an aircraft that may be exposed to an illegal act or which must for other reasons be isolated from normal activities on the airfield.
Security zone
An area around a runway or a stopway designed to reduce the risk of damage to aircraft in the event of a runway excursion or to protect aircraft during take-off and landing.
Service area
An area outside the manoeuvring area and apron used for aircraft parking and maintenance. Passenger embarkation and disembarkation is not allowed in the area.
Skyteam
An alliance of the following airlines: Aeroflot, Aeromexico, Air France, Alitalia, China Southern Airlines, Continental, CSA Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, KLM, Korean Air and Northwest.
Slots
Landing and take-off rights at specific times.
Souls
Souls/passengers. Often used by the OC in critical situations to state how many people are onboard an aircraft.
Stand
An area on the apron where aircraft are parked.
Star Alliance
An alliance of the following airlines: Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA – All Nippon Airways, Asiana (South Korea), Austrian Airways, British Midland, Egypt Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, SAS – Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, Swiss, TAP Air Portugal, Thai Airways, Turkish Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways.
Stopway
An area at the end of a runway where aircraft stop.
Tag
A baggage tag with the passenger’s name and address.
Taxiway
An airfield road for aircraft use:
- Taxiway for highspeed turnoff: A curved taxiway turnoff from the runway allowing landing aircraft to exit more rapidly than if the turnoff is at a right angle. This reduces the time the runway is in use.
- Taxiway on the apron: The part of the taxiway system located on the apron and which crosses the apron.
- Taxiway with stand: The part of the taxiway system located on the apron and which solely leads to the stands.
Taxiway safety zone
An area on both sides of a taxiway to reduce the risk of damage to aircraft in the event of an excursion from the taxiway.
Touchdown
The moment during landing where the wheels touch the runway. The expression is also used to indicate the geographic area on the runway where the wheels first touch the runway.
Threshold
The beginning of the part of the runway, where landing can take place.
To bus
To carry passengers by bus from the aircraft to the terminal or from the terminal to the aircraft.
Traffic area
The part of an airfield, including the manoeuvring area and aprons, that is used for aircraft take-off, landing and taxiing.
Traffic charges
Take-off, passenger and parking charges.
Transfer passenger
A passenger changing flight at a given airport. Normally, change of flight number is the criterion.
Transit area
The airside area where passengers stay before departing on their journey.
Transit bus
A free shuttle bus between the domestic terminal and the international terminals.
Transit passenger
A passenger who arrives and continues on the same flight. Normally, an unchanged flight number is the criterion.
Turnaround
The time from an aircraft lands until it takes off again, including cleaning etc.
Vilhelm Lauritzen Terminal
A terminal from 1939, designed by Danish architect Vilhelm Lauritzen. The building was listed in 1997, and in connection with the expansion of Copenhagen Airport, the Vilhelm Lauritzen Terminal was relocated and restored to its original condition. The terminal is now used for administration and VIP arrangements.
VIP
Very important person. At Copenhagen Airport, the term VIP is used for prominent persons who are allowed to use the King’s Room.
Waiting area
A place where an aircraft can wait or be passed to ensure quicker operation of other traffic.
Waiting position
A designated position from where aircraft and cars may be asked to stop to ensure sufficient distance to the runway.