When the Fehmarn Belt tunnel opens, Copenhagen Airport could become a more attractive departure point for travellers from Hamburg.
That is the assessment of Hamburg’s Senator for Economic Affairs, Melanie Leonhard. She uses a potential trip of her own to New York as an example.
This is reported by Welt.de.
- Once the tunnel is completed, I will not fly from Hamburg to Frankfurt and from Frankfurt to New York, says Melanie Leonhard.
Instead, she could take the train to Copenhagen and fly onwards from there. Together with the connecting rail infrastructure on land, the tunnel is expected to reduce travel time between Hamburg and Copenhagen to around two and a half hours.
- The shorter journey time to Copenhagen, where the airport serves as a hub with a range of connections, creates new opportunities and increases competition, says Melanie Leonhard.
She expects the prospect of losing passengers to Copenhagen to encourage airlines to consider more long-haul routes from Hamburg as well. There are currently no direct flights between Hamburg and the United States.
No new routes have yet been announced as a result of the tunnel. Nor has a new overall timetable for its opening been finalised.
