Roskilde Airport

"Copenhagen Airport, Roskilde" redirects here. For the large international airport, see Copenhagen Airport.
Roskilde Airport
Københavns Lufthavn, Roskilde
Copenhagen Airport, Roskilde
IATA: RKE – ICAO: EKRK
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Copenhagen Airports A/S
Serves Copenhagen
Location Roskilde
Elevation AMSL 146 ft / 45 m
Coordinates 55°35′08″N 12°07′53″E / 55.58556°N 12.13139°E / 55.58556; 12.13139
Map
RKE

Location of airport in Denmark

Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
03/21 4,920 1,500 Asphalt
11/29 5,900 1,799 Asphalt

Roskilde Airport (IATA: RKE, ICAO: EKRK), officially known as Copenhagen Airport, Roskilde (Danish: Københavns Lufthavn, Roskilde), is located 4 nautical miles (7 km) southeast of Roskilde near the town Tune. It was opened in 1973 as the first of three planned relief airports around Copenhagen. These plans were shelved shortly after, and the two other relief airports never made it past the planning stage. The airport is owned and operated by Københavns Lufthavne A/S (Copenhagen Airports) which also operates Copenhagen's major airport at Kastrup. The airport had 25,053 passengers in 2003.

Overview

Operational facilities include:

The airport is open around the clock and has immigration and customs facilities for international traffic, but it is used primarily for taxi, business, and training flights and the airport serves as base for several flights schools. It is home to more than half of the Danish fleet of GA-aircraft.

Bus and train services from around the country to the nearby town of Roskilde are extensive, but bus services to and from the airport are infrequent due to its limited use, and the primary means of getting to/from the airport is by own car or taxi.

Airlines and destinations

Roskilde Airport is planning an expansion of the runways and airport facilities to receive regular flights of low-cost international and charter operators, including aircraft types of Boeing 737 and Airbus A320-family sizes.[1] However, due to lack of commitment from airline carriers these plans have been postponed until further notice.

AirlinesDestinations
Copenhagen Air Taxi Anholt, Læsø
Starling Air Ærø, Ringsted, Svendborg

In 2002 the Ministry for Foreign Affairs Of Denmark reported that Ryanair was in discussions with the airport about beginning scheduled service to London Stansted. It was believed that the location close to the centre of Copenhagen would draw the airline. The talks eventually came to nothing and Ryanair has not stated interest since. In October 2014, Ryanair announced plans to base aircraft at the larger Copenhagen Airport from March 2015 instead.

Military operations

A small Danish Air Force installation is located adjacent to the airport, called Flyvestation Skalstrup. On the airport grounds there is additionally a separate area with a hangar and helipad, for use by the search and rescue Eskadrille 722, which deploys an AW101 Merlin rescue helicopter on permanent alert to cover the area of Sjælland and the Baltic Sea. This facility also covers any other Air Force deployment if needed. Roskilde is now the only airfield used by the armed forces on Sjælland with the closure of Værløse Air Base in 2004.

Lately Roskilde Airport has been the departure airport of Danish troops deploying to or returning from overseas locations, primarily Afghanistan, due to its more private and secluded atmosphere, compared to the far busier Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Report on expansion of EKRK (in Danish)

Media related to Roskilde Airport at Wikimedia Commons

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