What’s On The Horizon For: Aarhus Airport

Aarhus Airport highlighted its network growth strategy and reflected on the impact of hosting Routes Europe 2024 during this year’s event in Seville.

Aarhus Airport (AAR) serves Denmark's second-largest city and the fifth-largest metropolitan catchment area in the Nordic region, reaching nearly 1.4 million people.

The surrounding region boasts the country’s fastest-growing economy and one of Denmark’s highest average disposable income levels—exceeding that of the capital region. It has also led the Nordics in inbound visitor growth across most of the past nine years.

In 2025, AAR expanded its international offering with Pegasus Airlines launching twice-weekly nonstop service to Antalya, opening up a key leisure route and further connecting passengers to Central Asian and Near Eastern destinations via the Turkish carrier’s network.

Speaking at Routes Europe 2025 in Seville, David Surley, AAR's director of route development, highlighted that the airport's highest priority remains establishing air connectivity to multiple unserved destinations currently experiencing high leakage to other airports.

Regarding forward ambitions, there is mass growth potential for existing and new airline partners to capitalize on. Surley noted: “There are big markets still to fill across central and eastern Europe, the Mediterranean region and Iberian Peninsula. We also have strong demand from VFR markets in Aarhus and are actively seeking additional hub opportunities.”

Long-haul service development is also on the airport’s radar as part of its broader growth ambitions.

AAR played host to Routes Europe 2024, bringing together airline and airport leaders from across the continent. “It was a fantastic opportunity to bring the airline and airport community to Aarhus—a once-in-a-lifetime chance to showcase our city,” Surley said. “Working with Routes was an absolute pleasure.”

At the 2025 event in Seville, AAR’s exhibition stand attracted strong interest from delegates. “The event has been fantastic. Our stand has been consistently busy, with our baristas serving over 2,000 coffees,” Surley said. “It’s great to interact and see people again. That’s the most important thing in this industry—there’s so much agility in aviation right now, and this kind of forum is where the real information exchange happens.”

To maintain engagement with the route development community, AAR actively promotes its unserved route opportunities, latest news updates, and route successes through its Routes 360 profile, positioning itself as an increasingly important player in the Nordic aviation market.