Copenhagen Airport reports solid Q1 performance

Copenhagen Airport had a strong start to 2025. 100 years ago this year, the first flight took off from a grass field on the island of Amager – today the site of the largest airport in Denmark. In the first three months of the year, 6.2 million passengers passed through the airport, a seven per cent increase compared with last year, when Easter fell in March rather than in April, as it does this year.

“A lot of people still want to travel – including international tourists visiting Copenhagen and other parts of Denmark. Even without the many holidaymakers during the Easter break, which this year falls in April, we had 6.2 million passengers at the airport in the first three months of 2025,” says Christian Poulsen, CEO of Copenhagen Airport.

Copenhagen Airports A/S ended the first quarter with a profit of DKK 104 million before tax and total revenue of DKK 1,075 million, an improvement over last year’s Q1 profit of DKK 98 million before tax and revenue of DKK 1,036 million.

“I am pleased with our first quarter performance, which matches our expectations. Passenger numbers are in line with our forecast, bearing in mind that the first months of the year are generally quieter than the summer programme, which was launched on 30 March, offering more than 300 direct routes from Copenhagen to destinations around the world. Whether international travel patterns will be affected by the geopolitical situation will become apparent in the months to come,” says Christian Poulsen.

Revenue growth
First quarter revenue totalled DKK 1,075 million, a four per cent increase compared to the same period last year.

Aeronautical revenue from air traffic came to DKK 632 million in the first quarter, a year-on-year increase of DKK 24 million, or four per cent.

Non-aeronautical revenue, which is revenue derived from the shopping centre, the parking business, leasing of buildings and premises and from hotel operations at the airport, amounted to DKK 443 million, a year-on-year increase of four per cent. The improvement was curtailed by several shops and restaurants being temporarily closed in connection with the ongoing construction project to expand Terminal 3.

Growth on intercontinental routes
The total number of passengers rose in the first quarter compared with the year-earlier period. Intercontinental routes performed particularly well, with a year-on-year increase in passenger numbers of no less than 14 per cent.

“We are pleased with the improvement on long routes to and from Copenhagen. The vast majority of the 32 long-haul routes are doing well, helping to cement our position as an important traffic hub in northern Europe,” says Christian Poulsen.

The five most popular long-haul destinations in the first quarter were: Doha, Dubai, Bangkok, New York and Los Angeles.

“On US routes, we saw 19 per cent passenger growth compared with the first quarter of 2024. This is primarily due to SAS, which has chosen to consolidate most of its intercontinental traffic in Copenhagen and make Copenhagen Airport its global hub. More than half of the travellers on these routes are transfer passengers travelling to Copenhagen from Scandinavia and Europe and onwards to the US, or Americans taking advantage of the strong route network between a number of larger US cities and Copenhagen,” says Christian Poulsen.

Important steps in the transition of aviation
The increasing number of passengers entails a greater climate impact, and the green transition is one of the industry’s most important tasks. Copenhagen Airport has set an ambitious target to reach Net Zero for the airport’s own operations by 2030. This includes the emission of greenhouse gases from the airport’s vehicles and heat and power consumption.

The target is for Copenhagen Airport to have reduced emissions from own operations by at least 90% by 2030 compared to the 2019 levels. The remaining emissions will be compensated for by investing in climate credits.

“We are well on the path to reaching Net Zero for the airport’s own operations by 2030. The greatest challenge for the industry is the aircrafts’ fossil fuel consumption and resulting emissions, however. We are therefore happy to note that actual progress is happening on this front in 2025,” says Christian Poulsen.

At 1 January, the EU introduced a requirement for at least two per cent sustainable, non-fossil, fuel content in the fuel mix for aircraft taking off from airports in EU countries. The requirement will rise in the coming years to a sustainable fuel content of 70 per cent by 2050. Furthermore, the Danish passenger charge has come into force, which means that all passengers departing from a Danish airport will be charged between DKK 30 and DKK 300, depending on the flight distance. About half of the amount is earmarked for the transition of aviation.

“I firmly believe that the EU requirement will have a positive effect on the demand for sustainable aviation fuel. Price remains a challenge for the industry, however. This new type of fuel is significantly more expensive to produce, and we need even greater political commitment to promote the development and production of sustainable fuels,” concludes Christian Poulsen.

Outlook for 2025
In 2025, Copenhagen Airport still expects the increase in passenger numbers to continue, which will result in higher revenue.

Copenhagen Airport expects the number of passengers to increase to about 32 million in 2025, which is expected to result in eight per cent revenue growth.

If the provided passenger numbers reach the 32 million mark, a profit before tax in the DKK 1.45-1.65 billion range is to be expected.

The financial guidance is subject to uncertainty due to geopolitical and macroeconomic impacts. A deterioration in these factors may dampen the appetite for travel and thus have an adverse impact on the financial outlook.

Download the interim report here