Copenhagen Airport is the international airport that serves the capital of Denmark. The airport is the gateway for travel into and out of Zealand, as well as much of southern Sweden, as Malmö airport focuses mainly on budget airlines. If you are one of the millions of travellers visiting the largest Nordic airport, our full Copenhagen Airport Guide will tell you everything you need to know.
The original name of Copenhagen Airport was Kastrup Airport as per the name of the small town where it sits. It sometimes is referred to as Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup but this is primarily to distinguish which airport people are talking about. That is because Copenhagen does have another airport, Roskilde, but there are almost no commercial flights scheduled there.
Along with Oslo and Stockholm Arlanda, Copenhagen Airport is a hub for SAS (Scandinavian Airlines). With many connections to short-haul and intercontinental cities, Copenhagen Airport offers a multitude of options for destinations for passengers. Norwegian also has a strong presence, further extending the route network of Copenhagen. With the airport being the busiest in Scandinavia, it’s easy to see why Copenhagen Airport has such an essential presence in northern European aviation.
Lost Property Contact: Copenhagen Airport passes lost property to the police. Further information and contact details are on the official website.
Map: All maps are in PDF format with isometric design. There is an overview map, as well as individual ones for shopping and eating when airside, with a separate one for landside (i.e. before security) options.
WiFi: Free WiFi is available throughout the airport. Connect to the “CPH HOTSPOT” network, enter an email address and nationality, accept the terms & conditions and you will be connected.
Apps: Copenhagen Airport has a free app available on both AndroidandiOS.
Copenhagen Airport Facilities
Copenhagen Airport is decently equipped for travellers who will find more or less everything they need when departing. Currency conversion is available, of course, but also note that the ATM’s dispense Euros and British Sterling in addition to Danish Krone. Free luggage trolleys are available, as well as luggage storage, but there are no baggage wrapping services, for passengers who like to have the added protection for their luggage.
In terms of food and retail amenities, passengers will find a large selection when they pass security. The airside part of the airport has common space shared by both terminals with some stores doubling their presence by having outlets at both ends of the departures lounge. Passengers will find many restaurants, cafes, bars, fast food, duty-free shopping, children’s play areas, a spa, free WiFi, mobile charging spots, and several massage chairs. For any traveller in real discomfort, there is an airport doctor
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they can visit. Be sure to get a boarding pass first as there is a 20% reduction in consultation fees when visiting.
Even a brief trip to Denmark’s leading airport allows the countries most well-known export to be purchased. There is a LEGO shop towards the A gates letting passengers purchase all the plastic bricks they could desire! The store even has some building tables allowing children to create when waiting to depart.
Sleeping options are limited to finding a comfortable chair in the departure area or making use of the airport hotels in the close vicinity. There are no sleep-pods or hourly-hire beds at Copenhagen Airport. The closest option is the Clarion Hotel which links to Terminal 3, which allows some day-use if there is availability, as well as standard hotel room hire. There are also several other hotels which are a short road trip away with some offering free shuttle services, while others will require their guests to make their way over by themselves. To see the best options and cheapest prices on your dates of travel, check here to find the lowest rates.
Shower facilities are only available in the airport lounges at Copenhagen Airport. Passengers can opt to pay to access some of these if they would like to freshen up when at the airport. The other option is to check if a day-use room is available at the Clarion Hotel. Our list of lounges at the end of the guide will indicate which have shower access.
Luggage storage is available at the parking garage area. Passengers looking to drop off any items should head to P4 where they will find the lockers. There is a daily rate of DKK 80, 100 or 120 for storage of small backpacks, large items, or golf clubs/ski equipment, respectively. For short periods of up to four hours, this reduces by DKK 20. Note that the airport only allows storage for a maximum of 7 days.
Copenhagen Airport Terminal Layout
Officially, Copenhagen Airport has two terminals, Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, after the closure of Terminal 1 in 2015. However, in reality, there is effectively a single inter-connected terminal with separate check-in facilities. Once passengers have passed security and are in the airside area, there is no separation of facilities, which makes connections very simple. This shared-area is in contrast to the operations of Terminal 1, which was some 9km away from the rest of the airport, but only catered for domestic travel.
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Terminal 3 has slightly more of an important role as it is home to rail and metro facilities and is where passengers will exit once leaving baggage reclaim. But really, many travellers will be unlikely to notice any difference in terminals aside if they treat the two as different check-in areas. Once passengers have checked in and dropped their bags off, they will proceed through a shared security facility before making their way to the departure lounge.
Terminal 2
Terminal 2 of Copenhagen airport handles flights for Norwegian, as well as airlines in the SkyTeam and Oneworld alliances. There is now a ‘CPH Go’ pier for the low-cost carriers such as Transavia, EasyJet and Ryanair who have their check-in facilities in Terminal 2. Somewhat annoyingly for passengers, however, the CPH Go pier is at the other end of the airport so budget travellers should expect to walk some distance to their gate.
Terminal 3
SAS and their Star Alliance partner airlines have their check-in facilities at Terminal 3. There are also some airlines with no alliance, such as Icelandair, that have their check-in facilities in the Terminal 3 area. Passengers will enter Terminal 3 if they make their way to the airport from the train or metro station, and also all passengers arrive into Terminal 3 when exiting baggage reclaim.
Airside Gates
Once passengers have passed through security and are airside, they will enter duty-free and be in a shared area of the airport. From here, the gates are simple to navigate as the airport arranges them alphabetically. A gates are to the right, with F gates to the left when exiting duty-free. Note that there are no E gates currently, however, although construction is underway.
The CPH Go pier is where the F gates are, and all passengers travelling with the budget airlines should head here. It’s worth noting that the departure gates are down a walkway which can take 5 minutes or so to walk from entering. This time is in addition to any navigating through the departure lounge up to the D gates, so if budget passengers are short on time, they should proceed directly to the F gate area.
Copenhagen Airport Connections
Public transport in Copenhagen is plentiful and efficient, and this extends to Copenhagen Airport too. Passengers will find it quick and straightforward to make their way into Copenhagen city. In particular due to the airport’s proximity to Copenhagen itself, as it is only 8km south of the city centre.
For all public transport, there are day passes for one, two, or three days allowing unlimited travel on all public transportation in Copenhagen. For tourists looking to navigate the city, this can be the cheapest option and purchasing the ticket at the airport will help the savings start from the beginning of any time in Copenhagen.
Bus: There is a bus terminal outside of Terminal 2 for travellers choosing to take the bus into Copenhagen. At 36 DKK for a one-way ticket, taking the bus is the joint cheapest option for those on a budget. Several routes will take travellers to Copenhagen, but bus 5A runs 24/7 with departures as frequent as every 3 minutes during peak rush hours, and every 10 minutes at other times. Expect a journey time of approximately 35-minutes.
Train: Rail connections are simple from Copenhagen Airport. The train station is located in Terminal 3 with trains departing 24 hours a day. Journey time will be around 15 minutes to Copenhagen Central Station with regular departures. There are also trains to elsewhere in Denmark, as well as Malmö in Sweden departing from Copenhagen Airport. Tickets into Copenhagen are 36 DKK for a one-way journey. Unless looking to get to Copenhagen Central Station, passengers may be better making use of the Metro system.
Metro: Metro departures are far more frequent than the train. In rush hours, there can be a metro departure as often as every three minutes, and every six minutes at other times. Overnight the metro leaves every twenty minutes. Passengers should take the M2 line to reach Nørreport Station, which is a mile further into downtown Copenhagen. As per the bus and train, a one-way ticket will cost 36DKK. Expect a journey time of around 15 minutes in the driverless metro trains to the city centre.
Car: For any passengers looking to explore the greater Copenhagen area, hiring a car is a great option. The car rental outlets are in the Car Rental Centre, which is in the central arcade area of the landside facilities. The Car Rental Centre is open from 7AM to 11PM. Six of the big international players are here; Avis, Sixt, Europcar, Budget, Hertz, and Enterprise. For contact information, click on the company name on the Copenhagen Airport website.
Taxi: An expensive but efficient way to central Copenhagen is via taxi. A journey will take around 20 minutes, depending on the destination and traffic conditions. There will be a cost of around DKK 300, which will vary depending on the destination also. With public transport being neatly 10x cheaper and so efficient, passengers could see any savings made on a flight deal on Flynous disappear if taking a taxi from and to the airport!
Connections
For any passenger who has a connecting flight at Copenhagen Airport, the time to transfer will be factored in by the airline when making a booking. All checked luggage will automatically move to the second flight leaving passengers free from worrying about luggage. This applies for any tickets purchased either directly with an airline, or with an Online Travel Agency. If there were to be a flight delay when arriving into Copenhagen Airport, resulting in a missed connection, then the airline would provide alternative onward travel or accommodation for the passenger.
However, for passengers travelling on a self-transfer ticket, when there are two separate flight tickets with Copenhagen Airport as the transfer point, they will not be protected by the airline for delays. Any passengers travelling like this would need to check themselves in for the subsequent flight, as well as collect any luggage if they checked any in on the first journey and check it in again. Even though Copenhagen Airport shares terminal facilities, passengers would need to collect luggage at baggage reclaim, and pass through security on their way back airside.
The airport states an incredibly short minimum connection time of 40 minutes for domestic and Schengen flights, and 45 minutes for intercontinental travel. However, if a passenger needs to collect luggage, we would recommend 2 hours to allow for any delays at baggage reclaim and check-in.
Copenhagen Airport Lounges
There is a decent selection of lounge at Copenhagen Airport for passengers who would like to wait for their flight in comfort. Of course, as it is their home airport, SAS has a lounge for their travellers, but there are also several independent lounges with pay-at-the-door access for all. As the airport allows travellers to move between terminals once past security, lounges are not limited to a passengers departure terminal.
Airside Lounges
SAS Lounge (this lounge has shower facilities) / SAS Gold Lounge Located at gate C10
Aspire Lounge Located between A and B gates
Carlsberg Aviator Lounge Located between A and B gates
CPH Apartment Lounge Located between A and B gates
Eventyr Lounge (this lounge has shower facilities) Located at gate C26 for non-Schengen flight departures only
Landside Lounges
Regus Express Business Lounge (this lounge has paid for shower facilities) On the upper level before passengers pass through security
