Europe’s largest ultra-low-cost carrier, Ryanair, announced today it will open a new base in Copenhagen Airport (CPH), the second one in the country, after its base at Billund (BLL). Ryanair is returning to Copenhagen (as a base) after exiting the airport in 2015.

A new base, more aircraft, and routes

With the goal of creating up to 100 new direct jobs for pilots, cabin crew members, and engineers, Ryanair is investing $200 million and establishing two Boeing 737 aircraft in its new base in Copenhagen, starting in December 2023.

Photo: heisenferg/Shutterstock.

Through this new base, and the two aircraft established there, Ryanair will be able “to offer its unbeatable low fares to Danish citizens/visitors who want early morning departures and late evening arrivals at Copenhagen.”

This winter season, Ryanair will offer 24 routes departing from Copenhagen, including the launch of four new destinations: Düsseldorf (DUS), Faro (FAO), Paris, and Warsaw (WAW). Ryanair will also increase frequencies to Gdansk (GDN) and Krakow (KRK) and expects its annual traffic to grow to almost three million passengers per year in the Danish capital.

Operating from the CPH GO Pier

Copenhagen Airport has two terminals for check-in, Terminals 2 and 3. These two terminals share a common airside passenger concourse which is divided into piers, going from A to F. Pier F is also known as CHP Go. It was opened on October 10 and is dedicated to low-cost carriers, including easyJet, Transavia, and Ryanair.

With the opening of its base in Copenhagen, Ryanair expects to operate from the CPH GO pier. Nonetheless, the low-cost airline urged Copenhagen to lower its airport charges, which continue to hamper the city’s post-COVID recovery. Copenhagen’s capacity this summer is only at about 85% of pre-COVID volumes (despite having over 160 destinations); therefore, Ryanair requested the Danish regulator to follow many other airports in the European Union and lower its fees to recover traffic growth. Michael O’Leary, Chief Executive Officer of Ryanair Group, said,

“At a time when Copenhagen Airport lags behind the rest of Europe with its high fees and its failure to recover its pre-Covid traffic, Ryanair calls on the Danish Regulator to lower CPH airport fees to enable all airlines to pass on these lower fees in the form of lower airfares, and allow Copenhagen to recover its pre-Covid traffic and tourism.”

Why did Ryanair leave Copenhagen as a base in 2015?

In the past, Ryanair employed Copenhagen as a base. That changed in 2015, as the company fulfilled its thread to move away from the Danish airport after a disagreement with Danish unions.

On July 14, 2015, Ryanair moved its Boeing 737-800 from Copenhagen to Kaunas, where the aircraft would continue to fly to and from Copenhagen. Ryanair also suspended its base in Billund, although it returned to that Danish city in 2021’s winter season.

Now, with the reopening of the Copenhagen base, Ryanair informed that all new employees will be recruited under the national Collective Labor Agreement the company agreed with Danske Metal, Denmark’s largest national union. Billund-based employees are also covered through Danske Metal.

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