In recent years, more and more tourists and business travellers have been flying to Denmark. In 2016, the number of passengers at Copenhagen Airport increased by almost 10%, with more than 29 million people passing through the airport. This big increase means greater demand for hotel rooms and conference facilities, which is why CPH has entered into a partnership with the international hotel operator Nordic Choice Hotels to build a brand-new hotel at the airport:
“We’re expanding the airport considerably in order to be able to handle up to 40 million passengers a year,” says Thomas Woldbye, CEO of Copenhagen Airports A/S. “ Essentially, it’s a matter of creating more space for both aircraft and passengers. But we also need hotel and conference capacity, so I’m delighted that we’ve managed to find a partner with huge international experience of developing and operating world-class hotels and with whom we’ve been able to create a shared vision.”
The new hotel will be part of the Nordic hotel group Nordic Choice Hotels and part of the Comfort Hotel chain. It will be built in Ellehammersvej alongside the current Hilton hotel and be directly connected to the metro, railway and airport.
“For many years, Copenhagen Airport has wanted another hotel to supplement the existing high-end hotel,” says Petter A. Stordalen, owner of Nordic Choice Hotels. “We’re therefore delighted to have entered into an agreement with the airport to build a brand-new 500-room hotel. The new hotel will be part of our ‘cool’ bed & breakfast chain, Comfort Hotel, which means we’ll be operating two hotels aimed at different customer groups. In this way, we will ensure a better, broader hotel offering at the airport.”
New conference centre will attract international visitors
In addition to the 500 rooms, the new hotel will also have a new, modern 3,000 m2meeting and conference centre.
“Copenhagen already attracts a large number of international meetings and conferences. One major reason for this is that it’s really easy to get to Copenhagen from all over the world. We have 165 international routes, and irrespective of whether meeting attendees come from Malmö or Miami, it’s easy to get here. But it’s not enough that it’s easy to get here. We must also have facilities to accommodate meetings, product launches, congresses, etc.,” says Thomas Woldbye.
Nordic Choice Hotels currently operates more than 190 hotels and has 13,000 employees, and Petter A. Stordalen sees great potential in the agreement.
Facts about the new Comfort Copenhagen Airport Hotel
• Nordic Choice Hotels and Copenhagen Airport will be building a new hotel at Copenhagen Airport.
• The new hotel will be part of the Comfort Hotel chain and will have 500 rooms.
• The new hotel will incorporate a 3,000 m2 conference facility.
• The new hotel and conference facility are scheduled to be ready for use by 2020.
• The total budget for the construction project will be approx. DKK 800 million.
• The hotel will be upgraded, including a full refurbishment of the rooms, conference facilities, lobby and restaurant. The upgrade will cost DKK 70 million.
• When the new hotel and the conference centre have been constructed, Petter Stordalen’s property company Strawberry Fields will own 40% of the hotel and the conference centre. CPH will own the remaining share.
