Denmark - Articles and news items

Handling the heat

Issue 4 2011 / 8 August 2011 /

Copenhagen Airport was opened on 20 April 1925 as one of the world’s first airports exclusively for civil traffic. Today the airport is one of the most modern in the world and has been awarded numerous awards for efficiency and customer satisfaction. Copenhagen is Scandinavia’s largest airport and is also one of the major hubs in Northern Europe.

ARFF (Aviation Rescue and Fire Fighting) is a highly specialised component of the fire fighting service. An aircraft accident presents itself with various hazards that can threaten aircraft occupants, the environment, local community and emergency responders. ARFF crews must respond quickly and with precision to minimise loss of life and injuries. Fortunately, serious accidents are rare but that means that skills can only be built through training and learning from others rather than from actual accident experience. (more…)

Aalborg Airport implements RFID for baggage sortation

Issue 3 2010 / 9 June 2010 /

An overwhelming increase in travellers has made it necessary for Aalborg Airport to grow its baggage handling capacity. Today the baggage sortation is handled manually, but in order to accommodate the increase in routes, it became clear that it needs to be automated. Aalborg Airport had two choices, either barcode or RFID technology. Aalborg Airport chose RFID because of the immediate advantages, but also because this technological platform is able to offer entirely new passenger services. Furthermore, RFID is supported by IATA. (more…)

Training and readiness is crucial for the fire and rescue staff at your airport

Issue 1 2010, Past issues / 22 February 2010 /

Daily routines, training, readiness (the effort of being constantly ready) – are not new words when we are setting demands for our fire and rescue personnel. This article will give some examples in “lessons learned” from aircraft disasters, in order to give value to the words ‘daily routines’, ‘training and readiness”, and how to use the knowledge in a proactive way.

But first – why this article? ‘Sharing knowledge’ are the key words, because it is very seldom that we in airport fire and rescue actually face a real aircraft accident. On the other hand, there are a lot of expectations with regard to our performance in fire and rescue. Your airport, the airlines, the crew, passengers and everybody from the outside world has this feeling and expects the fire and rescue to know what they are doing in order to save lives.

So both the basic training, coupled with all of the small details, can together make the fire department in your airport a unit that can be counted on when the big thing occurs. (more…)

At the forefront with new wireless technology

Issue 5 2008, Past issues / 30 September 2008 /

Passengers are ready to use a new wireless technology that will make their travels easier and more fun. Copenhagen Airport is leading the way by being the first airport in Europe to be currently testing this technology, which is developed in collaboration with the IT University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark, Lyngsoe Systems and Blip Systems.

When should I go to the gate? Is it sunny where I am going? These are some of the questions passengers at Copenhagen Airport will be able to use their mobile phone to answer by signing up for a number of new and free services at www.cph.dk, in the near future. A new survey shows that 74 per cent of the airport’s passengers will make use of the new technology once development of the system is finished. Copenhagen Airport will also be testing the technology with the help of volunteers flying with SAS. (more…)

Copenhagen’s new tower: advanced solutions to exceptional challenges

Issue 1 2008, Past issues / 4 February 2008 /

When in 1716, the Danish Empress Katharina drove up to the top of the Round Tower at Copenhagen’s Trinitatis church in a horse-drawn carriage with her husband Peter the Great, she set a certain precedent in remarkable tower transport operations. But 291 years later the tradition has been maintained, when one of the world’s most advanced airport ATC towers came into operation on time, on budget and with all systems working as specified.

The new Copenhagen/Kastrup tower came on-line at 1am on 29 December 2007 as part of a 50-programme upgrade of Denmark’s entire air traffic management (ATM) system called DATMAS, the Danish Air Traffic Management System. As well as the Copenhagen/Kastrup tower, DATMAS incorporates a new en-route and approach control centre and new tower/approach systems for Billund and Roskilde airports.

Traffic is growing steadily at Kastrup; despite the cancellation of many hundreds of SAS Dash Q400 flights in November as a result of landing gear problems. The airport handled 21,409,526 passengers in 2007, an increase of 2.5% over 2006. The old control tower was built in 1971 and at just 36 metres was struggling to give controllers the full 360 degree view of the airfield; a complete view of traffic on runway 22L, for example, was not always possible. (more…)

Prepared for the worst

Issue 2 2007, Past issues / 3 April 2007 /

Copenhagen Airport (CPH) is located on the borderline between cold Scandinavia and the more temperate northern European continent. This means that there are frequent and rapid changes from mild winter days to fierce blizzards. These changing weather conditions make great demands on the winter preparedness at the largest airport in Scandinavia.

”Be prepared.” This proud motto of the Scouts could also be the motto of Airside Support, the department at Copenhagen Airport in charge of ensuring that the airport is operational round the clock and throughout the year, regardless of the weather and how high the winds are.

Copenhagen Airport is located in a coastal climate region where the winter weather normally varies between mild windy and rainy days and cold days of sleet, snow and freezing rain. Now and then, Copenhagen Airport is hit by a blizzard, or every few years by an “ice winter”, a long period of temperatures well below freezing that causes even the coastal waters to freeze over. On average, the airport is affected by snow only 19 days a year, but there are wide fluctuations in winter weather from year to year. In spite of a trend towards milder weather in recent years, a total of 120 centimetres of snow fell at Copenhagen Airport in the winter of 2005/2006, which is highly unusual. (more…)

A holistic approach to asset management

Issue 3 2006, Past issues / 11 September 2006 /

Respect for quality, efficiency and economy drive asset management at Copenhagen Airports. Mogens Kornbo discusses how a holistic approach, tracking the broadest sector developments down to the smallest gear wheel, makes it possible to plan and build for the airport of tomorrow based on a flexible, total economy.

Asset management has always had top priority at Copenhagen Airports (CPH). To an airport like CPH, our assets are part of the image we want to uphold in respect of our passengers. Passengers regard the airport as an important part of the trip. The overall ambience of the airport means something to the passenger. It must be easy for the passenger to find his or her way around the airport, which should also have atmosphere as well as shopping, café and restaurant environments – all of which contribute to a pleasant beginning and end of one’s journey.

It is not an impossible mission to unite the airport’s functional, architectural and aesthetic qualities without squandering your budgeted resources. On the contrary, it is even possible to take a total economic approach when constructing new assets and evaluating such variable aspects as service life, maintenance, user friendliness, flexibility and future orientation. (more…)