Thursday’s chaos at Copenhagen Airport has continued through Friday.
From early morning on Friday, long queues for the security check were reported by various media outlets and could be seen across social media.
The reason is increased security measures. Questions still remain as to what exactly they entail.
More than an hour-and-a-half
On Thursday, from around early afternoon, reports started coming in of long queues at the airport.
Berlingske spoke with a group of travellers who waited more than an hour-and-a-half in the queue.
SAS reported to TV 2 that roughly 250 of their passengers missed their flights. Norwegian reported to DR that around 200 of their passengers missed theirs.
“Implement certain additional measures”
The reason for the long queues has been confirmed to be increased security measures that had been requested by the Danish Civil Aviation and Railway Authority.
In a written statement to TV 2, it , said “The Danish Civil Aviation and Railway Authority has identified conditions which mean that the airport must temporarily implement certain additional measures in the security screening.”
It is unknown what these conditions are and what exactly the additional measures entail.
Chaos again on Friday
On Friday, from early morning, it became clear the chaos would continue. DR has written that people have reported waiting over an hour.
The airport suggests people travelling within the Schengen area show up two hours before their flight, and people travelling outside the Schengen area show up three hours before.
However, these guidelines have been criticised by the airlines. Norwegian has told its passengers to arrive even earlier than the airport suggests.
Norwegian’s Denmark country manager, Sara Neergaard, told DR, “We are disappointed with the communication that has taken place. We did not receive any messages from the airport until yesterday, when things had already gone wrong.”
SAS now reports having had to rebook roughly 350 customers, and Norwegian says their number is 230.
Copenhagen Airport comments
Copenhagen Airport’s director of communications, Lise Agerley Kürstein, told DR, “We are all concerned about the passenger experience, and it is a really unfortunate situation.
“But the most important thing is safety, and we never compromise on that. That is why we are doing this.”
Minister for Urban and Rural Affairs and Transport Signe Munk of the Green Left (Socialistisk Folkeparti) has declined to comment on the situation.
