Copenhagen Airport — Local services in Tårnby Kommune

This airport is one of the worst airports I have experienced around the world. It's not the worst I ever dealt with so 2 stars. The biggest issue are the slow moving long lines at security and customs. When I arrived here, it took more than an hour just to clear customs. There are like 10 counters and only 2 were open to serve international visitors. The EU residents lines on the other side were almost empty! Many passengers were about to miss their domestic connections waiting to clear customs because they were there for a very long time. The others in line were nice enough to let them cut ahead.

When I was leaving to go back home, it was again very long lines. I arrived at the airport more than 3.5 hours before my departure because I lacked confidence from my arrival experience. My lack of confidence wasn't wrong. The check-in kiosks I tried at first didn't work or kept crashing. After, I managed to check in and drop off my luggage, I had to pass security. The airport only has two security lines for TWO entire terminals. Needless to say, it took forever to get through security!

You might think you are in the clear once you pass security. Nope! If you are flying out of the EU as a non EU resident, read this carefully and read it twice: DO NOT SHOP AROUND AT THE SHOPS OR HANG AROUND! HEAD TO YOUR GATE RIGHT AWAY! Why? As you head to your gate, you need to go through passport control. The terminal building I was in serves both EU domestic and international flights. Again, there are very long lines and there are only two windows for international visitors. Luckily, the staff there was smart enough to allow some international passengers into to the EU residents line.

By the time I got to my gate, there was only about 30 minutes till boarding. Remember, I got to this airport 3.5 hours before departure time and it's just enough time.

I was thirsty at this time so I thought there would be drinking water stations around. I couldn't find one so I asked some gate agents. They told me to go into the restroom and get water from the tap. YUCK! I don't want airborne fecal matter in my water bottle! I had no choice but to go buy water from the vending machine. I bought two bottles since my dad who's traveling with me was also thirsty. Guess how much two bottles cost... $9.30 US Dollars! That was just for two bottles of sparkling water. My mother-in-law was also with me and she actually did fill her water bottle from the restroom tap, but never drank from it. Out of curiosity, when I got home, I took out my TDS meter and checked the water. It was 550 PPM! Just to give you an idea, the US EPA states that 500 PPM is the maximum for safe drinking water before you need to consider filtration. The WHO recommends 300 PPM or less for drinking water.

If you come to this airport, be prepared for long lines and allow enough time for it. I would recommend being at the airport 4 hours before departure time just to be safe. Also, the seats at the gates don't have power...

Disrespectful and Discriminatory Treatment at Finnair Bag Drop

I had my worst bag drop experience ever on May 18 with Finnair at counter 127, around 6:00 PM. The staff member assisting me was extremely rude and unprofessional.

The staff member who assisted me was rude, unprofessional, and showed a clear lack of respect throughout our interaction. Although he did show me how to tag my luggage, his demeanor was cold, dismissive, and unwelcoming from the very beginning.

After I placed my bag on the belt and the screen showed that it was overweight, he simply said, “Oh, this is too heavy, you should take something out,” in a condescending tone, and then looked at me with a humiliating and judgmental expression. At that moment, I was panicking — my flight was leaving in one hour.

I explained that my ticket class allows for additional baggage weight, but instead of checking or responding helpfully, he cut me off and said, “Oh, you don’t need to tell me your ticket information, I don’t need to know that,” again in a belittling tone.

Only after that did he pick up his work phone and say, “Oh, see, we can scan now and see what happened.” The bag was then accepted by the machine without issue — exactly as I had told him. He could have verified my allowance from the beginning, but chose not to. I was made to feel dismissed and embarrassed for no reason.

As someone who has worked in customer service for many years, I find this behavior completely unacceptable. Airport staff should be professional, supportive, and calm — especially when dealing with stressed passengers. Instead, I felt targeted, disrespected, and humiliated.

What makes this incident even more troubling is that I couldn’t help but feel that I was being treated this way because I am Asian. His tone, body language, and unwillingness to engage respectfully were not just unprofessional — they felt discriminatory. I sincerely hope that Finnair does not tolerate racial bias among its staff, but in this case, it certainly felt that way.

To add to the irony, it appeared that this employee was training a new colleague — a young woman who, in contrast, was kind, patient, and smiling throughout. It's concerning that someone displaying such hostile and possibly racist behavior is mentoring others.

I’ve traveled and lived in many countries and have never encountered such a negative experience at an airport. It's disappointing to see this kind of behavior representing Finnair — especially in Copenhagen.

A truly...

For a sophisticated and civilized country like Denmark, Copenhagen Airport is a real disappointment. Sure, it is large and modern, but one gets the impression that the comfort and amenity of the passengers was the last thing the designers and operators considered. To begin with, there is a real shortage of places to sit while waiting for your connection. There are broad corridors all over the airport, but they are all lined with stores and restaurants, as if taking the last euro from your pocket was far more important than providing the basic facilities that travelers need. Throughout the airport hundreds passengers were literally sitting on the floor. Some of the ‘seating’ provided consisted of hugely uncomfortable, angular objects as if the message was ‘don’t just sit here, go and spend some money!’ (see photos) There is practically no seating available inside the check-in lounges where old, frail and pregnant travelers are forced to stand for up to 45 minutes before being able to board. But perhaps the most worrying feature is the disdainful attitude of staff to travelers. We were booked on a Ryanair flight that was seriously late, and the holding area was chock-a-block with waiting passengers for over an hour. As one of us had an operation and could not stand, we decided to wait just outside the check-in counter until the holding pen started to empty. To our shock and surprise, we were denied boarding by a very arrogant and aggressive check-in clerk, despite the fact that over 100 passengers were still queuing to get onto the plane. Obviously the check-in clerk wanted to go home and closed the flight before everyone had a chance to check-in (see photo). She next called the airport security who showed not the least interest in solving the problem. Subsequent complaints to the airport, and Ryanair were brushed off, and we were forced to spend the night at the airport and pay for a flight next day. This is the kind of thing you might experience in some of the worst airports of the world, but Copenhagen…? I think the airport needs to urgently review its priorities, hugely increase seating accommodation, place traveler comfort and amenity above saturating the place with duty free shops, and most of all, get rid of airport personnel for whom travelers are...