“Summer is our absolute peak season and, every day, the entire airport is teaming with life and happy travellers. A lot of these are holidaymakers from Denmark and southern Sweden, of course, but many tourists are also flying in to the airport to visit Copenhagen and the rest of Denmark,” says Peter Krogsgaard, Chief Commercial Officer of Copenhagen Airports A/S.

293 summer routes out of Copenhagen
Copenhagen Airport offers many opportunities to see the world. This summer, there are as many as 293 routes from Copenhagen to 163 different destinations. 34 new routes have opened so far this year, and several airlines have increased the number of frequencies on existing routes.

“This is a good and busy summer season for Copenhagen Airport, and we are very pleased that both airlines and passengers are choosing Copenhagen. This demonstrates that we are an attractive and efficient airport with a strong route network, whether you are travelling to European destinations or further afield”, says Krogsgaard.

Over the summer, 29 long-haul routes are available out of Copenhagen. In June alone, two new routes opened between Copenhagen and the United States. American Airlines, one of the world’s largest airlines, is now operating a route with a daily service from Copenhagen Airport to Philadelphia, and SAS has opened its new daily service to Atlanta.

Spain the summer favourite
Spain tops the list of the most popular sun destinations. More than 220,000 passengers travelled to and from Spain in June – and of the 12 Spanish destinations from Copenhagen, the most popular are Barcelona, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca.

“Spain is a top destination that many Danes and southern Swedes keep returning to time and again. Compared with last year alone, the number of passengers has grown by 14 per cent – but part of this is because more Spanish tourists have become aware of Scandinavia and are travelling to Denmark for their holiday.

Greece is the charter tourists’ preferred country, and the islands of Crete and Rhodes are the favourite destinations. The total number of passengers on charter and scheduled flights between Copenhagen and one of the many Greek destinations is up by 20 per cent on last year. Crete is the absolute top Greek destination, as this is where 32 per cent of all tourists visiting Greece choose to go.

Passengers: +6% compared to January 2023

In January, Brussels Airport welcomed 1,403,192 passengers, an increase of 6% compared to January 2023. The end of the Christmas holidays at the beginning of the month meant that more passengers arrived than departed. The suspension of flights to Tel Aviv last October continues to have a negative impact on passenger numbers. There was also a negative impact from the short strike at Brussels Airlines and above all from the winter conditions at German airports in January, which led to temporary closures.

The share of departing transfer passengers was 17%, a slight fall due to the decrease in the number of transfer passengers within Europe compared to the increase in the number of intercontinental passengers, which is more in line with Brussels Airport’s objectives as a hub.

The top 10 destination countries in January were respectively Spain, Germany, Italy, Morocco, Turkey, Switzerland, the United States, France, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.

Flown cargo volumes: up 6% compared with January 2023

In January, overall freight volumes at Brussels Airport rose by 3% compared to January 2023, reaching 55,051 tonnes.

Flown cargo volumes grew by 6%, totalling 46,376 tonnes.

The full freighter segment saw a robust upturn of 15%, while belly cargo on passenger aircraft rose by 19%, thanks to the increase in passenger flights. Express services fell by 9% and trucked cargo volumes by 9%.

The main import regions are Asia (which recorded a sizeable increase of 112% compared to January 2023), Africa (-0.5%) and North America (-16%). The main export region is also Asia (-6%), followed by North America (-21%) and Africa (-11%).

Flight movements: 3% increase compared to January 2023

In January, the number of flight movements increased by 3% to 13,508. The number of passenger flights increased by 5% compared to 2023. There were on average 128 passengers per flight in January 2024, one more than in 2023. The number of cargo flights decreased by 6% largely due to the drop in the number of express cargo flights.

Andrew Holl, Airfield Operations Director at BHX, said: “Standardising these stands means, rather than having to wait for the right type of stand to become available, if any stand is free we can send an incoming aircraft straight to it.

“That makes our operation simpler and more resilient, reducing the chance of delays for customers and enabling us to process people on and off aircraft more efficiently. This investment is a key element of our growth plan to 18 million customers a year by 2033.

The work involves reconfiguring existing aircraft parking areas, including power, lighting and stand indication, to dimensions which suit A321 and B737-size aircraft. The existing taxiway has been realigned with new lighting to allow the creation of more stands close to the terminal. This project is due to be complete in summer 2024.

The aircraft stands project is part of £300m of capital investment over the next decade to make BHX capable of serving 18m customers a year by 2033, when it also aims to have become a carbon-net zero airport.

For further information on its journey to 2033, see BHX’s ‘We’re on our way’ video.