What parents need to know about travelling through Billund Airport with kids
Flying with children can be stressful at the best of times, so here are our best tips for departing from Billund airport with your kids in tow.
Why Billund?
Denmark’s second-largest airport Billund is a viable option for anyone living west of the Great Belt Bridge and particularly in central and southern Jutland, where the distance is far shorter and travel more convenient than departing from Copenhagen Airport.
While major long-haul destinations might still be better served from Copenhagen, there are an increasing number of options at Billund and for shorter trips, it is likely you’ll find a flight that is cheaper overall and more convenient than adding a rail or road trip to Copenhagen to your overall itinerary.
A list of destinations from Billund Airport can be found here.
Getting to the terminal
Unfortunately, public transport links to Billund aren’t great. The airport’s management wants a rail connection to Aarhus and has conducted studies into its viability, but this option won’t be available in the near future at least. Instead, a bus service connects the airport with Aarhus, taking around 1 hour 30 minutes. The nearest mainline rail station is Vejle, from where there is also a bus connection to Billund taking 30 minutes.
There are also direct bus connections to Esbjerg and Kolding and the Aarhus bus stops in Horsens and Skanderborg. You can find prices and timetables here.
If you arrive by car and are parking in one of the long-term car parks, you are likely to be a distance from the terminal which is not ideal for walking with children and luggage.
To avoid this, you can call a free shuttle bus, which will take you to the terminal. The call points for the shuttle buses are marked as yellow dots on this map. The shuttle should reach you within five minutes.
If you are coming by bus, you will be dropped off outside the terminal and there is also a free pick-up/drop-off zone for cars, within a short walk of the entrance to the airport building.
Things to do
Obviously, your family’s needs will vary depending on the age of your children. If you have young children, it can be a good idea for them to blow off some steam before getting on the flight.
Options here for small children are rather limited, but I’ve had some success showing my daughter (when she was a toddler) the various life-sized Lego figures scattered around the departures area. These seem to change infrequently, but there’s one in the large Lego store (a policeman) and another down the corridor towards the departure gates.
Speaking of the Lego store, there’s enough here to fascinate bigger kids for a while too. Given that Billund (the town) is the home of Legoland and the headquarters of Lego in Denmark, a decent Lego souvenir shop is probably to be expected at the airport, and it delivers with a huge range of different sets, merchandise and models on display. You can spend anything from 50 kroner to 5,000 kroner on a souvenir should you want to.
Near the Lego store (and also near the smoking cubicles) are four free foosball tables, which are often available: one advantage of Billund is that there always seems to be space.
If you want to buy something to keep your slightly older child occupied during the flight, there is a WH Smith shop after security which sells small cuddly toys, magazines, sticker and activity books and stationery, as well as snacks and drinks.
Travelling with a baby
There are changing tables (puslebord or puslerum) in most of the toilet blocks in the airport, as well as dedicated taps for filling up a water bottle. These have turquoise doors to make them easier to find.
Before you go through security, bear in mind any liquids will need to be under 100ml unless you’re planning to put them in your checked baggage.
Children under the age of two are allowed to bring (including in containers larger than 100 ml): milk in baby bottles, water in baby bottles, boiled water in a thermos (such as for milk formula), breast milk substitute in cartons, and baby food in jars (which is considered partially liquid)
You might be asked to taste these liquids or drip them on to your hand when passing through security.
After you have cleared security and headed up the stairs, escalator or elevator, before you reach the shops in the departures area you’ll find a number of pushchairs and prams which are free to loan. These are also useful for carrying your hand luggage until you’re ready to board your flight.
Places to eat
Bilund Airport isn’t cheap, and if your child is a fussy eater you might want to take something with you from home. You are allowed to bring food through security with you as long as it isn’t a paste or liquid over 100ml (so avoid any soups, smoothies, or any pots of dressings, dips or sauces, to be on the safe side).
One exception to this is food or milk for babies, as described above. You can bring enough food or milk for your baby to last the duration of your flight, including water or hot water to make formula milk, and it’s exempt from the 100ml rule, although they may make you taste it at security.
Inside the airport, there are places to buy kid-friendly food both before and after security, but moreso afterwards where kids’ menus are on offer at Sunset Boulevard and bread and pastries at Lagkagehuset.
If you sit in the shared area, rather than inside one of the actual restaurants, you can eat food you’ve brought with you or each member of your group can grab whatever they fancy from a couple of different restaurants.
Leaving Schengen
Bear in mind that if you’re leaving the Schengen area, you will have to go through passport control before you can go to your gate, meaning you won’t be able to return to the rest of the airport.
There are toilets and benches after passport control but no shops (and sometimes not so much as a vending machine), so make sure you’ve grabbed everything you need before you head through to your gate.
Once you’re at the gate, there might be a queue for the toilet until you get on to the plane, so bear this in mind before you head through.
While the above makes Billund Airport sound difficult to get to and with limited facilities – especially if you compare directly to Copenhagen – they are mostly just features of its smaller size. Being smaller brings plenty of advantages that larger airports don’t have. You’re unlikely to be queuing long for security, should have space to spread out with your kids, have a good chance of finding a seat and won’t have to walk far to the gate.
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Why Billund?
Denmark’s second-largest airport Billund is a viable option for anyone living west of the Great Belt Bridge and particularly in central and southern Jutland, where the distance is far shorter and travel more convenient than departing from Copenhagen Airport.
While major long-haul destinations might still be better served from Copenhagen, there are an increasing number of options at Billund and for shorter trips, it is likely you’ll find a flight that is cheaper overall and more convenient than adding a rail or road trip to Copenhagen to your overall itinerary.
A list of destinations from Billund Airport can be found here.
Getting to the terminal
Unfortunately, public transport links to Billund aren’t great. The airport’s management wants a rail connection to Aarhus and has conducted studies into its viability, but this option won’t be available in the near future at least. Instead, a bus service connects the airport with Aarhus, taking around 1 hour 30 minutes. The nearest mainline rail station is Vejle, from where there is also a bus connection to Billund taking 30 minutes.
There are also direct bus connections to Esbjerg and Kolding and the Aarhus bus stops in Horsens and Skanderborg. You can find prices and timetables here.
If you arrive by car and are parking in one of the long-term car parks, you are likely to be a distance from the terminal which is not ideal for walking with children and luggage.
To avoid this, you can call a free shuttle bus, which will take you to the terminal. The call points for the shuttle buses are marked as yellow dots on this map. The shuttle should reach you within five minutes.
If you are coming by bus, you will be dropped off outside the terminal and there is also a free pick-up/drop-off zone for cars, within a short walk of the entrance to the airport building.
Things to do
Obviously, your family’s needs will vary depending on the age of your children. If you have young children, it can be a good idea for them to blow off some steam before getting on the flight.
Options here for small children are rather limited, but I’ve had some success showing my daughter (when she was a toddler) the various life-sized Lego figures scattered around the departures area. These seem to change infrequently, but there’s one in the large Lego store (a policeman) and another down the corridor towards the departure gates.
Speaking of the Lego store, there’s enough here to fascinate bigger kids for a while too. Given that Billund (the town) is the home of Legoland and the headquarters of Lego in Denmark, a decent Lego souvenir shop is probably to be expected at the airport, and it delivers with a huge range of different sets, merchandise and models on display. You can spend anything from 50 kroner to 5,000 kroner on a souvenir should you want to.
Near the Lego store (and also near the smoking cubicles) are four free foosball tables, which are often available: one advantage of Billund is that there always seems to be space.
If you want to buy something to keep your slightly older child occupied during the flight, there is a WH Smith shop after security which sells small cuddly toys, magazines, sticker and activity books and stationery, as well as snacks and drinks.
Travelling with a baby
There are changing tables (puslebord or puslerum) in most of the toilet blocks in the airport, as well as dedicated taps for filling up a water bottle. These have turquoise doors to make them easier to find.
Before you go through security, bear in mind any liquids will need to be under 100ml unless you’re planning to put them in your checked baggage.
Children under the age of two are allowed to bring (including in containers larger than 100 ml): milk in baby bottles, water in baby bottles, boiled water in a thermos (such as for milk formula), breast milk substitute in cartons, and baby food in jars (which is considered partially liquid)
You might be asked to taste these liquids or drip them on to your hand when passing through security.
After you have cleared security and headed up the stairs, escalator or elevator, before you reach the shops in the departures area you’ll find a number of pushchairs and prams which are free to loan. These are also useful for carrying your hand luggage until you’re ready to board your flight.
Places to eat
Bilund Airport isn’t cheap, and if your child is a fussy eater you might want to take something with you from home. You are allowed to bring food through security with you as long as it isn’t a paste or liquid over 100ml (so avoid any soups, smoothies, or any pots of dressings, dips or sauces, to be on the safe side).
One exception to this is food or milk for babies, as described above. You can bring enough food or milk for your baby to last the duration of your flight, including water or hot water to make formula milk, and it’s exempt from the 100ml rule, although they may make you taste it at security.
Inside the airport, there are places to buy kid-friendly food both before and after security, but moreso afterwards where kids’ menus are on offer at Sunset Boulevard and bread and pastries at Lagkagehuset.
If you sit in the shared area, rather than inside one of the actual restaurants, you can eat food you’ve brought with you or each member of your group can grab whatever they fancy from a couple of different restaurants.
Leaving Schengen
Bear in mind that if you’re leaving the Schengen area, you will have to go through passport control before you can go to your gate, meaning you won’t be able to return to the rest of the airport.
There are toilets and benches after passport control but no shops (and sometimes not so much as a vending machine), so make sure you’ve grabbed everything you need before you head through to your gate.
Once you’re at the gate, there might be a queue for the toilet until you get on to the plane, so bear this in mind before you head through.
While the above makes Billund Airport sound difficult to get to and with limited facilities – especially if you compare directly to Copenhagen – they are mostly just features of its smaller size. Being smaller brings plenty of advantages that larger airports don’t have. You’re unlikely to be queuing long for security, should have space to spread out with your kids, have a good chance of finding a seat and won’t have to walk far to the gate.
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