Based on its performance in the first half of 2025, the 100th anniversary of Copenhagen Airport is set to be a record year for the Danish gateway.
In the first six months of the year, 14.9 million passengers passed through the terminals, which was 8% cent more than in the first half of last year and the highest number of passengers ever.
“There is a great desire and need to travel, and we are seeing a continuing increase in the number of passengers using the airport,” enthuses Copenhagen Airports A/S CEO, Christian Poulsen.
“This applies both to Danish travellers, who make up about a third of all passengers, and to international travellers who visit Denmark or are on their way out into the world.”
Copenhagen Airports A/S ended the first half with a profit of DKK595 million before tax and total revenue of DKK 2,541 million, an improvement over last year’s H1 profit of DKK491 million before tax and revenue of DKK2,355 million.
Poulsen notes: “I am satisfied with the result for the first six months. Performance is as expected, and the number of travellers is consistent with our forecast.
“We do not yet see any significant impact of the geopolitical situation on international travel patterns, but we are, of course, monitoring developments closely.”
More people fly via Copenhagen
A growing number of travellers at Copenhagen Airport are transfer passengers having a layover at Copenhagen Airport on their journey to other international destinations.
In the first half of the year, 3.3 million transfer passengers passed through the airport – 23% more than in the same period last year.
“The increase in transfer passengers means we are consolidating our position as northern Europe’s largest transport hub,” adds Poulsen.
“More than one in five travellers passing through our airport are in transfer and travelling to other destinations around the world.
Nine out of ten transfer passengers travel via Copenhagen on an SAS flight from, for example, Scandinavia, the Baltic countries, northern Europe or other parts of Denmark.
The large proportion of transfer passengers helps to ensure more intercontinental routes to and from Copenhagen.
“Good connections to destinations worldwide help attract foreign companies and labour to Denmark, and new direct routes will similarly make destinations around the world more accessible to Danish companies. It has value for society as a whole,” comments Poulsen.
New routes and destinations
More and more airlines and passengers choose to fly to and from Copenhagen Airport. During the first six months of the year, 29 new routes were launched for a total of 334 routes out of Copenhagen to 171 different destinations.
Poulsen says: “We are constantly working to be an efficient and attractive airport for both airlines and travellers. So, we are obviously very pleased that the airlines are establishing new routes out of Copenhagen Airport, and that several of the routes are even to brand new destinations.
“This gives travellers from Denmark and southern Sweden more travel options around the world and – just as importantly – gives foreign tourists and business travellers from around the globe easier access to Copenhagen and the rest of Denmark.”
The vast majority of the new routes are to destinations in Europe, which make up more than 85% of the total traffic from Copenhagen Airport.
Danish State to acquire the airport
In December last year, the Danish Ministry of Finance announced that a political agreement had been reached for the Danish State to acquire the majority of the shares in Copenhagen Airports A/S.
The European Commission has approved the Danish State’s acquisition of controlling interest in Copenhagen Airports A/S.
ATP, the current majority shareholder of the airport, has announced that the conditions for transferring the controlling interest in Copenhagen Airports A/S to the Danish State are met.
In October, ATP expects the Danish State to submit a mandatory offer to acquire the shares held by the remaining shareholders.
Outlook for 2025
Copenhagen Airport expects the increase in the number of passengers to continue for the remainder of the year to about 32 million in 2025, which is expected to result in an 8% increase in revenue.
Provided passenger numbers reach the 32 million mark, a profit before tax in the DKK1.45-1.65 billion range is expected.
However, it warns that “the financial outlook is uncertain due to the geopolitical and macroeconomic situation, which may potentially have an adverse impact on travel enthusiasm and thus the financial outlook”.