Copenhagen Airport runs out of space: AI to make better use of it

Copenhagen Airport is running up against the limits of its physical space, and it has turned to AI to cope. Passenger numbers are rising faster than the airport can expand its buildings and facilities, so it has put a new AI platform into use to ease the pressure.

The airport's IT department built the underlying data platform in just 18 months. It is meant to host AI solutions for a range of tasks, from making optimal use of the baggage belt system to following passenger patterns. The baggage system alone includes a belt more than 12 kilometres long, where suitcases are scanned along the way.

Tenna Ørum-Kristensen, a director at the airport, describes the "burning platform" behind the project. The airport is approaching the limit of what its physical infrastructure can handle, she says. It therefore has to use the infrastructure it already has more cleverly and make better decisions based on data.

The piece is an interview published by the Danish technology outlet Ingeniøren in its AI coverage. Only the opening of the interview was available, so further details on the specific AI tools, how they perform or what results they have delivered are not covered here.

The story shows a large Nordic infrastructure operator responding to growth by getting more out of what it already has, rather than relying on new construction alone, and doing so with a platform developed in-house on a short timeline.