Copenhagen Airport has opened CPH Air Lab, a container-based test laboratory that will examine whether filters can remove ultrafine particles from the air close to aircraft traffic.
According to reporting by DR, the laboratory is housed in a container placed in the middle of the airport’s busy traffic areas. Inside are advanced sensors, a test chamber and a ventilation channel that registers particles in the air.
The project is named CPH Air Lab. At least five different filter technologies are to be tested over the coming months, DR reports. They include mechanical filters, electrically charged surfaces and biological materials such as moss.
The technologies that perform best in the container will move on to expanded trials in 2027. Maria Skotte, sustainability director at Copenhagen Airport, describes the setup as a good opportunity to test methods that may help. If they work, the airport will scale them up, she told DR.
Skotte said the laboratory should be seen as a supplement to the airport’s existing work on emissions. That work includes switching off aircraft auxiliary engines as quickly as possible and reducing fuel consumption while planes taxi on the ground.
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Expert calls the test interesting but limited
Kåre Press-Kristensen, senior adviser on air quality and climate at the environmental organization Green Global Future, called the initiative interesting. As he told DR, there is no quick fix for ultrafine particle pollution from Copenhagen Airport, so as many methods as possible should be tried.
He also pointed to a practical difficulty with filters. Air can easily move around a filter instead of passing through it, he said, and in that case the filter has no effect.
Neighbors see an acknowledgment
Claus Holbech, part of the citizens’ group Borgergruppen mod lufthavnsforurening, has seen the container up close during a dialogue forum at the airport. He told DR he views the laboratory as an acknowledgment that the airport has a problem that needs to be addressed.
Holbech noted that the laboratory follows the installation of ultrafine particle monitors inside the airport. In his view, the airport has changed direction and is now taking air pollution more seriously.
TravelWires reported in August 2026 that the airport installed 18 sensors for ultrafine particles in spring 2026, particularly around aircraft stands. Data from the sensors closest to neighboring communities is expected to be published before the end of 2026.
Skotte acknowledged to DR that there is a problem with air pollution and that targeted work is needed to solve it. The airport is pursuing every option to reduce the pollution it is responsible for, she said.
