Routes Europe 2024 co-host Aarhus Airport (AAR) in Denmark is gearing up for a promising summer season, driven by new airline partnerships and increasing demand for Mediterranean destinations.
David Surley, senior director of route development and marketing at AAR, highlighted the airport’s positive outlook and strategic initiatives aimed at capitalizing on market opportunities.
“We are anticipating a very good summer season,” Surley told Routes. “With Norwegian being a brand-new airline partner this year, we predict continued high demand for Mediterranean areas, which performed so well in summer 2023."
Surley highlighted Norwegian's entry into Aarhus as a significant development, marking the airline’s first footprint in the Nordics’ fifth-largest metropolitan market, home to around 1.4 million residents. The addition of three sunshine routes—to Alicante, Palma de Mallorca and Malaga—is expected to further boost passenger traffic, which grew 25% in 2023 to about 530,000 passengers.
“Norwegian will bring us even greater capacity to the southern resorts of Europe,” Surley said. “While overall growth will perhaps not be quite so stellar as last year’s, it is certainly a sign of continued traffic development.”
In addition to Norwegian's expansion, Surley highlighted the expansion of Croatian capacity by three months of additional Ryanair service, along with capacity increases to Greece and Portugal, as contributing factors to the airport's growth strategy.
Regarding domestic traffic, Surley observed a positive trend in recent months, with a rising share of domestic capacity taken up by connecting passengers. He attributed this trend to a strengthening Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) network, amid heightened demand for travel to Europe and beyond.
Surley addressed the challenge of historical leakage to other airports in the region, emphasizing AAR's efforts to attract and retain passengers through strategic route additions.
“The leakage situation is something we are working hard to address, and we have observed that with recent route additions, where Aarhus secures direct service, we tend to see very high market share accrued by those routes and considerable resulting market penetration, which appears to happen quite quickly,” Surley said. “Both customer leakage turnaround and market stimulation take place.”
Looking ahead, Surley emphasized Aarhus Airport's vast potential for growth, citing numerous underserved markets and strong travel trends from growing inbound markets such as France, Germany, Italy, Spain and beyond. He added the Aarhus market is the largest in northern Europe without a direct Middle Eastern or transatlantic hub connection.
Regarding a planned Danish air passenger tax—which will be phased in from 2025—Surley acknowledged potential challenges but expressed confidence in the market’s resilience.
“While the impact of the tax remains uncertain, most consumer responses in media surveys have suggested negligible public concern,” Surley said. “Stakeholders in this respect are working hard to convey concerns and issues in a constructive way with the government.”
He added that while Denmark is not perceived as a low-cost destination, the cost of travel should remain within reach for tourists wishing to visit the country.
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