Interim report of Copenhagen Airports A/S (CPH) for the period 1 January – 30 September 2020 - Seite 3

Quick testing is key to restarting air traffic
However, cost reductions are not enough to turn the current red figures into black. A genuine restoration of air travel requires more fundamental measures, when the current COVID-19 flare-up is under control. For this reason, under the auspices of the government’s restart teams, CPH has worked to establish a testing solution requiring passengers arriving in Denmark from countries categorised as red or orange to have a test that less than 30 minutes will provide them with an answer as to whether they have COVID-19. Such quick tests are currently being trialed at other European airports. It is the view of the CPH Board and management that implementation of a quick testing solution across the various countries that our airlines fly to and from, is key to the recovery of connectivity at CPH and the economic benefit that the wider aviation industry brings to global trade.

Sustainable transition has not lost momentum despite COVID-19
Despite the plummeting passenger numbers and the work to restore air traffic in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, CPH has maintained its strong focus on the sustainable transition of aviation and CPH.

In the second quarter, under the auspices of the Climate Partnerships, CPH and the rest of the aviation industry presented the industry’s recommendations for its sustainable transition. Shortly after, CPH and a number of other major Danish companies teamed up with the City of Copenhagen to launch the idea of establishing new facilities for the production of sustainable fuel in the Greater Copenhagen Area. The plan is for these facilities to produce sustainable fuel for lorries, ships and aircraft within a foreseeable future.

The partnership continued working on the project in the third quarter, applying for financial support from Innovation Fund Denmark which – in combination with a triple-digit amount in millions of Danish kroner from the participating companies – will lay the groundwork for the launch of the first stage of the project, which may be ready in 2023.

Furthermore, in the beginning of October a consortium led by CPH in collaboration with 14 other European partners and the Danish Technological Institute won an EU tender to create the sustainable airport of the future.

Highlights

             

• The number of passengers at Copenhagen Airport was 6.7 million in the first nine months of 2020, a 71.3% drop from the same period last year that was due to COVID-19. The number of locally departing passengers was 2.7 million (71.4% fewer than last year), while transfer and transit passengers numbered 0.6 million (73.1% fewer than last year).