Copenhagen Airport off to a sound start

In the first quarter of the year, 6,243,782 passengers passed through Copenhagen Airport, 2.3% more than in the same quarter of 2016. Growth was mainly driven by an increase in the number of international passengers, with 4.0% more passengers on long-haul intercontinental routes, but also an increase of 3.5% on domestic routes. 

“Passenger growth in the first quarter was reasonably good and in line with our expectations,” says Copenhagen Airport’s CEO Thomas Woldbye. “A major factor in the passenger growth was the continued increase in tourists visiting Denmark. More than 30% more tourists flew here during the first quarter, particularly young people on weekend trips, which is a growing segment. In recent years, our intercontinental route has been expanded with even more destinations outside Europe, and recently, in March, Norwegian opened its route from CPH to Oakland, San Francisco on the American west coast.”

New figures from CPH show that the number of incoming tourists increased by 34% in the first quarter compared to the same quarter of 2016.

High investment level maintained
The major expansion of capacity in the central security checkpoint was initiated in 2016 and will be completed in 2017. Furthermore, at the start of the year, the airport launched two new major expansion projects: the start of a new Pier E especially for large aircraft on long intercontinental routes and expansion of the area of the airport after the central security checkpoint between Pier A and Pier B.

The projects are part of Expanding CPH, the airport’s DKK 20 billion investment plan to expand the airport to be able to accommodate 40 million passengers a year. In 2016, CPH invested approx. DKK 1.1 billion in the airport, and in March the Company announced that this level would increase by approx. 20% to DKK 1.3 billion per year as part of a targeted investment package.

“We’re investing in expanding our capacity by creating space for more aircraft and passengers, but we’re also investing in making it more attractive for airlines to fly here. We are therefore increasing the investment in optimisation initiatives to reduce the airlines’ costs of doing business at CPH,” says Thomas Woldbye.

Growth in non-aeronautical activities
The interim financial statements for the first quarter were affected positively by growth in non-aeronautical business, with the airport’s car parking and food & beverage outlets making a particularly positive contribution.

The airport has also entered into a new agreement with Nordic Choice Hotels, which as of 1 April took over the running of the hotel, now renamed Clarion Hotel Copenhagen Airport. Under this agreement, a new 500-room hotel is also being built as well as a large meeting and conference centre immediately adjacent to the Clarion hotel.

Highlights

• Revenue grew by 3.1% to DKK 996.0 million (2016: DKK 965.7 million), primarily driven by the 2.2% increase in departing international passengers.

 

• Thanks to a sustained focus on cost efficiency, operating costs per passenger fell by 2.5%, despite increased regulatory requirements and a sharp focus on investments in the central security checkpoint.

 

• EBITDA, excluding one-off items, increased by 6.2% to DKK 543.6 million (2016: DKK 511.7 million). Reported EBITDA rose by 6.3% to DKK 539.5 million (2016: DKK 507.3 million).

 

• Profit before tax, excluding one-off items, was in line with last year and amounted to DKK 302.8 million (2016: DKK 304.2 million). Reported profit before tax was also in line with last year and amounted to DKK 298.7 million (2016: DKK 299.8 million).

 

Outlook maintained
The outlook for traffic growth, profit before tax and capital expenditure is unchanged from the announcement of 1 March 2017.