A total of 2.5 million passengers passed through Copenhagen Airport in October, representing a 12% year-on-year increase for Denmark’s main gateway. 

Thirteen new routes to destinations in Asia, Africa and the Middle East among others are being launched during the winter 2023-24 season, growing the number of services operating from the Danish gateway to 228 routes. This marks a rise of one compared with 2019.

The winter program includes several long-haul routes, with SAS Scandinavian Airlines resuming its flights to Miami and opening a new direct route to Agadir, Morocco. Etihad Airways has also started a service to Abu Dhabi and Nouvelair Tunisie has a direct route to Tunisia.

Within Europe, Wizz Air has opened new routes to Kutaisi, Georgia, and Katowice, Poland, as well as commencing service to Budapest and Gdansk, which are already served by other airlines.

Morten Mortensen, Senior Director for Airline Sales at Copenhagen Airport, an exhibitor at Routes World 2023 in Istanbul, says the post-pandemic recovery has been strong. However, in the below video, he highlights that the closure of Russian airspace following the invasion of Ukraine has reduced connectivity to Asia, with capacity to China in particular is taking a hit.

“We have been forced to look at other potential long-haul opportunities,” Mortensen says. “Africa is coming in stronger—that was a blind spot for us—and we have regained coverage of India. So, while North Asia has been a challenge for us, we’ve been well covered across [other regions].”

Mortensen also points to the North American market, which saw Air Canada launch seasonal flights from Montreal this summer. Additionally, American Airlines plans to open a route from Philadelphia in June 2024, operating daily aboard Boeing 787-9s.