Traffic at Billund Airport in 2003

Taken together the traffic in 2003 did not reach the expected level.

The international scheduled services have shown a fine progress, whereas charter traffic has disappointed. 2003 became the first year in Billund Airport’s history where the number of passengers on the international scheduled services exceeded the number of charter passengers.  

There are 2 reasons for this:
- The airport has continued its positive development in the area of international scheduled traffic, which has increased by 70,000 passengers (10.7%) from 2002 to 2003.
- 2003 was a disappointing year for charter flights from Billund. The number of charter flight passengers in Billund went down by 82,000 from 2002 to 2003 (10.4%).

When it comes to domestic traffic, the decrease in 2003 has been significant with a decline of 26,000 passengers (16%).

Billund Airport expects that the progress of the international scheduled services will continue. Partly by a consolidation of the existing routes to numerous European hubs, partly by new initiatives. Already on January 12, SUN-AIR/British Airways opens a new service between Billund and Düsseldorf with 2 daily departures each way. Apart from this Billund will have services to the following cities this summer: Amsterdam, Bergen, Brussels, Edinburgh, Floroe, Frankfurt, The Faroe Islands, Gothenburg, Kaunas/Palanga, Kristiansand, London, Malaga, Manchester, Milan, Munich, Nice, Oslo, Paris, Stavanger and Stockholm. On the charter area there are clear reports from the charter travel agencies that 2004 will bring growth to Billund. Among the new undertakings are direct holiday flights from Billund to Thailand, and this summer will also bring new destinations about, for instance destinations in the Balkans.

Happy New Year!

Billund, January 2nd, 2004
Jørgen Krab Jørgensen