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Copenhagen Airports President and CEO Niels Boserup: “I see the DKK 75 tax as the biggest obstacle to maintaining and extending the route network to and from CPH and therefore also a threat to continued development and growth in Copenhagen and the Oresund region. When Danish politicians refuse to touch the tax, they are indulging in short-term thinking.” |
DENMARK. Copenhagen Airports has a vision to turn its key airport, Copenhagen, into “Scandinavia’s Stansted”, a hub for low-cost airlines.
But first, the airport needs to solve the problem of low cost airlines opting to use rival regional airports due to a government tax of DKK 75 per passenger.
In the latest newsletter to shareholders, Copenhagen Airports President and CEO Niels Boserup had strong words for the Danish establishment on this issue.
“I see the DKK 75 tax as the biggest obstacle to maintaining and extending the route network to and from Copenhagen and therefore also a threat to continued development and growth in Copenhagen and the Oresund region.
“When Danish politicians refuse to touch the tax, they are indulging in short-term thinking,” said Boserup.
Denmark is the only country in the region whose Government levies a tax on airline passengers, he said. He pointed out that Hungarian low-cost airline Wizzair had cited the passenger tax as one reason for using Sweden’s Sturup airport instead of Copenhagen. When easyJet shut two of its four routes at the airport, it cited the same reason.
“For our part, we have done our homework: today we have some of the cheapest tariffs of all European airports. We think it is about time we are allowed to compete on an equal basis with these airports.
“We have a vision that we can turn CPH into ‘Scandinavia’s Stansted’. We want to be the airport in Scandinavia that has the most to offer to low-cost customers,” he said.
He added that Copenhagen Airport should be a “leading low-cost airport while also maintaining its position as a European hub for air traffic”.
“No matter what, the low cost concept is here to stay, and the traditional airlines are beginning to put forward products that look increasingly like those offered by the low cost airlines,” he said.
If the airport succeeds in drawing the low-cost crowd, “it means more passengers in the future”.
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