Copenhagen Airport has temporarily tightened its security checks after an inspection by Trafikstyrelsen, causing hours-long queues and hundreds of missed flights since October 22.
The airport confirmed the change in an interview with DR Nyheder on Friday, October 23. Head of communications Lise Agerley Kürstein said some security procedures had been altered after certain conditions were identified. She declined to say what those conditions are, citing the rule that security matters cannot be shared publicly.
The trigger was a supervision visit by Trafikstyrelsen, the Danish Civil Aviation and Railway Authority. Politiken reports that Trafikstyrelsen confirmed it had imposed temporary supplementary security requirements after its inspection identified unspecified conditions at the airport.
What is actually slowing the queues down
According to Kürstein, more passengers than usual now have their hand baggage checked manually rather than only by machine. Not everyone passing through is affected, but the share is higher than normal, and manual checks take longer. TV 2 adds that bags are in some cases being scanned repeatedly, and that the airport has no firm timetable for a return to normal procedures.
Several hundred passengers missed their flights on October 22 after queues built up and waits stretched to over an hour. Politiken reported waits of at least 30 to 45 minutes on October 23. The CPH Post reported waiting times of at least 45 minutes in both terminals on October 22.
Airlines have put numbers to the disruption. Norwegian’s country manager in Denmark, Sara Neergaard, said 200 of the airline’s passengers missed flights and described the mood among them as close to panic. SAS communications chief Alexandra Lindgren Kaoukji told Ritzau that 352 SAS passengers have been rebooked onto other departures.
Norwegian also criticized the airport’s communication, saying it received no messages before October 22, when problems had already started. Kürstein acknowledged the criticism and said she had assumed airlines were briefed. She said the situation developed faster than extra staff could be called in.
How long the tighter checks will last
Kürstein told DR that passengers should prepare for periods of long queues into next week, and possibly one week beyond that. She stressed that the measures are temporary and rejected the idea that they were introduced because of a security threat. She said the airport is occasionally tested, and that procedures are changed until the points raised in those tests are fully under control.
By Friday afternoon there was no queue at the security check, according to DR. The airport has called in additional staff and expects alternating periods of heavy pressure and calm in the coming days. Kürstein said security is never compromised, and that this is the reason for the current measures.
What the heightened checks mean for internationals flying out of Denmark
Copenhagen Airport, or Københavns Lufthavn, is the main departure point for most internationals in Denmark travelling to family, work meetings or home countries. Trafikstyrelsen is the state authority that supervises aviation security in Denmark, and its requirements are binding on the airport. Neither the airport nor Trafikstyrelsen has published what the identified conditions were, so travellers have no detailed picture of what is being checked more closely.
Practically, the sourced facts are these: more manual baggage checks, longer and unpredictable queues into next week and possibly the week after, and hundreds of passengers already rebooked by SAS or left behind by Norwegian. Those travelling to appointments tied to residence or work permits should note that the airport has given no fixed date for a return to normal procedures, per TV 2. Passengers who missed flights were handled by their airlines, with SAS confirming rebookings onto later departures.
