Copenhagen Airport experienced significant delays in security screening procedures on Thursday evening and Friday morning, October 23, causing hundreds of passengers to miss their flights. Queues stretched for hundreds of meters, reaching as far as the airport's metro station. Airport management anticipated the situation would continue throughout the weekend, hoping to resolve the issue early next week.
Airlines have announced that their passengers have been affected by the crisis.
SAS announced it had rebooked 352 passengers on alternative flights after security checkpoint queues prevented them from traveling as scheduled. Norwegian reported that 200 of its passengers missed their flights on Thursday, and another 30 on Friday morning, bringing the total number of affected passengers for both airlines to at least 582, according to figures released by these two airlines alone as of Friday morning, with similar expectations from other airlines.
Waiting for more than two hours... and passengers buying new tickets
According to The Copenhagen Post, Mikkel Harder Munk-Hansen, director of the Danish Institute in Rome, waited in line for more than two hours after arriving at the airport by metro before 5 p.m. on Thursday. He recounted that the queue stretched from the security checkpoint to the metro station platform, but he didn't make it through security in time, missing his flight to Rome and having to buy another ticket.
In another case reported by Travelnews.dk, Swedish traveler Victoria Frick waited for about an hour and a half to go through security, even though the screens at the airport were showing an estimated waiting time of between 32 and 37 minutes.
Passengers also reported arriving two hours before their flights but missing them due to the long queues. Reports described lines stretching for hundreds of meters, a scene that persisted from Thursday into Friday morning.
Additional procedures include manual baggage inspection.
The problem began after the Danish Transport Authority, Trafikstyrelsen, asked the airport to temporarily implement additional security measures, following a routine inspection that revealed issues requiring new measures.
The airport authority stated that the measures included modifications to the inspection process, including manual screening of some luggage. Reports indicated that some bags were scanned multiple times, which contributed to delays in passenger flow.
The agency did not disclose the nature of the observations that led to the imposition of the measures, citing considerations related to the confidentiality of security information. It emphasized that the measures were not linked to an external threat or a general change in the security situation.
Norwegian Air criticizes lack of advance notification
Sara Nergård, Norwegian's representative in Denmark, criticized the company for not being informed in advance of the new procedures or the expected delays, according to local sources. The company stated it had hoped to receive notification that would have allowed it to prepare and inform passengers, rather than being confronted with the situation after the disruptions began. She expressed concern that the problem would persist given the increased travel demand during the weekend.
SAS Airlines said it understood the frustration and difficulties faced by passengers, noting that the situation appeared to have improved by Friday afternoon, but warned of the possibility of renewed pressure as passenger traffic increased in the afternoon.
The airport expects the crisis to continue through the weekend.
Copenhagen Airport's communications director, Lise Agerle Kersten, said the airport had hired additional staff to handle the inspection, but did not yet have a specific date for restoring normal procedures.
She explained that forecasts indicate the same situation will continue throughout the rest of the weekend, while the airport hopes to reach a solution early next week.
The airport management urged passengers to arrive at least two hours before their flight for flights within the Schengen area, and three hours before flights to destinations outside of it, in anticipation of long waiting times.
The reasons for the measures are still undisclosed, and there is no timeframe for resolving the issue.
As of Friday morning, the Danish Transport Authority had not specified what exactly it found during the inspection or what additional measures were required. Airport management confirmed that security remained adequate, despite the need to temporarily modify some inspection procedures. Local sources indicated that there was no clear timeframe for resolving the issue at the time of writing, and passengers affected by delays at Copenhagen Airport should contact their airlines or airport authorities regarding their flights.
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