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    Recorded at CAPA LCC Airports Congress - Asia, 3rd week of Sep 2015

    Copenhagen Airport Update

    Copenhagen Airport has a dedicated low-cost facility that permits 25-minute turnarounds and boarding through front and rear doors on aircraft. Copenhagen's low-cost facility is one of a handful around Europe, perhaps spurred by consolidation and greater LCC size requiring innovation from airlines. On the full-service, long-haul side, Copenhagen recently received flights from Beijing Capital Airlines. Their Beijing-Copenhagen and Hangzhou-Copenhagen flights are their first long-haul services. The next largest opportunity for Copenhagen in Asia is a service to Hong Kong, which is the biggest unserved market for the airport. Cathay Pacific has mooted a possible Hong Kong-Copenhagen route.

    Transcript

    Ole Wiethe Christensen:I think what can be learned is basically a lot of how to utilize your infrastructure much more efficiently. For example, in Copenhagen Airport, we have a low-cost pier, 25-minute turnaround, 2 sets of stairs on the aircraft. We have the approach that every cost saving we can make will eventually benefit the airline, which in turn will generate more passengers. And that whole perception and approach from an airport side, I think many airports in Asia potentially could learn from. I think we can learn that the carriers out here, the low-cost carriers, are very positive, very receiving, and really want the airports to come to the table with ideas. As you know, in Europe we have had years of— decades of consolidation and low-cost development. I really think the positive tone in what we have heard here from the LCCs is really good. So I think we can learn from that in Europe, where the tone sometimes gets a little tough, maybe also because the market is more mature. China is very, very important for not only Copenhagen Airport, but the Danish society and certain Swedish society, which is also approachable from Copenhagen Airport. Basically because Chinese tourists are very good spenders, so that's a very important influx to our economy. Of course, for an airport like Copenhagen, we are a little proud of the fact that Beijing Capital Airlines starts to serve Copenhagen as the first point in Europe. Normally we see everybody goes to Charles de Gaulle or London Heathrow, which is good, but in this case we are very happy to see them Touching down in Copenhagen as the first point in Europe. Very important indeed. Certainly Hong Kong and the whole Pearl River Delta is very interesting. Currently Hong Kong is the largest unserved point out of Copenhagen, so we of course work to get that served. But actually on top of that, we still see huge potential in both Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand for that matter. Historically, Scandinavians and Danes have been very fond of going on vacation in Thailand and Malaysia. Thailand is a relatively mature market, but for example Malaysia, we see many of the same opportunities to attract holidaymakers. So we certainly strive to get some direct services, some more direct services into these areas. Basically our approach is one of dialogue, dialogue, and dialogue. As an airport, if you don't understand the airline side of the business, My approach is, well, then you better get some people who do quickly. So try to be in their shoes and see what is it really they need. Lower cost, higher efficiency, and basically working with them in a very close and trusty dialogue. And I think that is really what we try to do with all airlines, also ASX.

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