This summer will be unusually busy, with as many as 25 days seeing passenger numbers rounding 80,000. That may seem overwhelming and stressful. But we have the facilities to handle these passenger numbers, says Copenhagen Airport’s Passenger Manager Marie-Louise Lotz.
“We recently completed an expansion of Terminal 2, adding 1,400 more square metres, 16 new check-in kiosks and 12 new check-in desks, so we have far more space and facilities for all the passengers we’ll be seeing. Still, many passengers will probably experience busy periods, especially in the mornings. That can be stressful in itself, so there are two important rules we ask passengers to follow,” said Lotz.
“First: prepare yourself from home and check in online if you can. That will make it easier for you at the airport. Second: arrive at the airport on time, i.e. at the time your airline recommends. Many people think they can help their airline and the airport by getting to the airport early during busy periods. But that can mean even more people waiting in the check-in area, which doesn’t help anyone. It’s also a problem if you arrive at the airport at the last minute, though, especially if it’s on one of the peak travel days we’ll be having this summer,” said Lotz.
A stress-free start at the airport
Copenhagen Airport aims to make the start to people’s summer holidays as stress-free and pleasant as possible. For this reason, up to 30 extra Green-Team floor walkers will be available to help passengers. In addition, special family tracks will be opened to allow families travelling with children to check in without stress before they set out on their holidays.
From mid-July, smokers will also have the opportunity to enjoy a more stress-free departure from Copenhagen Airport, with an outdoor smoking terrace opening near Pier B in the otherwise completely smoke-free airport.
“This means that smokers don’t have to spend the last few minutes before check-in smoking outside the terminals: they can now check in at ease, knowing that they can have a smoke later on before their flight. This will reduce smoke outside the terminals and ensure a more pleasant departure for all passengers,” said Lotz.
Additional check-in staff will be available
Like the airport, the airlines are also anticipating to a very busy summer, not least SAS, which has ten new routes out of Copenhagen this year to destinations such as Pula in Croatia, Palermo and Cagliari in Italy, and the new popular direct service to San Francisco. The airline also has flights to classic SAS destinations such as London, Nice, Milan and Paris, said SAS Head of Media Relations for Trine Kroman-Mikkelsen.
“We will be fully staffed for our busiest travel weekend this year, with a special focus on check-in and bag drops. We will open our check-in desks half an hour earlier than normal, at 4:00 a.m., and we have extra staff ready to manage any queues that may build up during peak hours” said Kroman-Mikkelsen.
Danes travel south for the summer holidays
Norwegian also expects to carry even more passengers to holiday destinations than ever before. That is why Norwegian has moved from the eastern end of Terminal 2 to the new check-in area.
“It is quite clear that, also this year, passengers from Denmark are heading to the warm weather of southern Europe, with Barcelona, Nice, Rome and Mallorca as some of the most popular destinations. We look forward to welcoming them in our brand new check-in area and also on board our new airliners with free WiFi,” said Norwegian’s Chief Information Officer Johan Bisgaard Larsen.
Self-service natural
Today, most airlines expect their passengers to check in and print their boarding cards on their own before they go to the bag drop with any checked baggage they may have, says Copenhagen Airport’s passenger manager:
“That’s why we now have 99 check-in kiosks at Copenhagen Airport, where passengers can print both their boarding cards and baggage tags, ” said Lotz.
Leave your camping gas behind
When it comes to baggage, passengers should remember that “hazardous goods” such as lighters, spirit burners and camping gas are not allowed in their checked baggage. If you pack those items anyhow, the baggage scanners will identify them and they will have to be removed.
“This means that we then have to find the passenger, who has to remove the objects from his or her bag. It goes without saying that on a busy summer day, we don’t always manage to find the passenger before the flight leaves. The passenger’s bag will then be left behind, which is not a very pleasant start to a holiday adventure,” said Louise Lotz.