CPH traffic report: Busy June sees traffic volume tying last year’s records
Traffic in the first busy month of this year's summer holidays tied last year's record of almost three million passengers passing through the terminals. Also this summer, more holidaymakers are going to far-off places. Friday 28 June was the busiest day ever at Copenhagen Airport.
The summer holiday season is off to a brilliant start at Copenhagen Airport. During the first of the official summer months, a total of 2,942,888 passengers passed through the airport terminals, a mere 766 short of last year's record.
A total of 109,408 air travellers made Friday 28 June the busiest day in the history of the airport, nine more than the previous record set on 25 June last year.
There are several reasons why this year's busy June fell short of last year's record: Norwegian has made adjustments to its traffic programme, and a couple of airlines have gone bankrupt.
"We're feeling the effects of the WOW Air and, not least, Primera Air bankruptcies, and their services to many summer destinations. In June of last year, the two airlines carried 55,000 passengers and we're missing out on that traffic this year. So from that perspective, I believe matching last year's record is really rather remarkable," said Copenhagen Airport CEO Thomas Woldbye.
The airport spends months preparing for the busy season. A particular feature of summer travel is the many families with children, and they don't move through the airport as fast as seasoned business travellers do.
"To accommodate this group of passengers, we have opened two lanes through Security designed specifically for families with children under the age of 12. These lanes will be calmer and officials will engage with our youngest travellers, ensuring that their summer holidays get off to a good start," explained Thomas Woldbye.
"Just like last summer, more air travellers are going to far-off places for their summer break. Traffic on our long-haul routes out of Europe is up by 4 per cent, while the short-haul destinations within Europe are down by 0.4 per cent," said Thomas Woldbye.
In relation to domestic flights, the airlines have reduced the number of departures and arrivals by 5.7 per cent, resulting in a 3.1 per cent drop to 143,697 passengers.