Following December’s launch of the plan to expand Copenhagen Airport at a cost of €270 million, CPH is now starting up two major projects worth €160 million – a new Pier E for aircraft and a doubling in size for the transit area in Terminal 2, the busiest passenger area.
The expansion of Copenhagen Airport is gathering pace with the investment of €114 million to build the first phase of a brand new pier, incorporating more aircraft stands and serving new routes, and €5.25 million to double the size of the busy passenger area after the central security checkpoint. In the next three years, more than 1,000 construction workers and technicians will work on increasing capacity for aircraft and passengers.
On 10 January, Thomas Woldbye, CEO of Copenhagen Airport, together with the Danish Minister of Employment Troels Lund Poulsen, officially launched the two major projects at a special event at the airport.
“The first thing our passengers will notice is the investment of €5.25 million in creating more space for the journey through the busy area after the security checkpoint,” says Woldbye.
More space for improved travel experience
Thomas Woldbye, CEO of Copenhagen Airport, comments: “We are making the corridors wider so there’s more space for passengers making their way to their flights. We’ll also be adding a new play area, additional seats and more power sockets for recharging devices.”
The area between Pier A and B is being expanded by 4,000sqm to double its current size. This is being done by building a brand new building in front of the existing one and then joining them together. The work will be completed around summer 2018.
“We are making the corridors wider so there’s more space for passengers making their way to their flights,” explains Woldbye. “We’ll also be adding a new play area, additional seats and more power sockets for recharging devices. Seven out of 10 passengers say that good options for shopping and eating are essential for a good travel experience – and we’re listening to them, which means we’re also building 28 new shops and food & beverage outlets. We’re already well into the process of identifying the right selection so that there’s something for every taste and budget.”
A brand new pier
The brand new pier E, costing around €404 million is one of the biggest construction projects of recent times at the airport.
“The construction of the brand new Pier E is one of the biggest construction projects of recent times. When the pier is complete, it will be able to accommodate 10 gates for large aircraft and 20 for smaller aircraft on the European routes – a huge project costing around €404 million,” says Woldbye.
The first phase of Pier E will be complete in 2019. But that won’t be the end of things. As part of the Expanding CPH plan for a future airport handling 40 million passengers a year, as well as more aircraft and new routes, the subsequent phases of the new pier are already being planned.
While the future Pier E is being built in an area of the airport where neither passengers nor aircraft will be affected, the expansion of the busy passenger area between Pier A and Pier B will not go unnoticed.
“We’ll put up effective construction screens to shield our passengers and staff from noise and other nuisance. We’ll also establish overhead windows and try to confine the noisiest work to night-time. Around December this year, the construction activity will move into the current area. This will happen when the new 4,000sqm building is ready to be joined with the existing one.
“Unfortunately we can’t build something this big in the middle of the airport without passengers being aware of it to some extent, but I can guarantee that we’ll do everything we can to minimise the inconvenience – and I promise that the new area will be worth waiting for. The aim is to be ready for opening in summer 2018,” concludes Woldbye.
