While Copenhagen Airport repeatedly posts growing passenger numbers, the same cannot be said for Billund Airport in Jutland.
The airport suffered a significant reduction in passenger numbers in 2025, a year in which low cost airline Ryanair closed its base at Billund and withdrew from the airport completely.
Ryanair’s withdrawal from Billund took with it over 20 services, including a popular departure to London Stansted.
Statistics Denmark figures show that 1.5 million passengers departed from Billund in 2025. This is a 22 percent decline compared to the previous year and the lowest number since the Covid-hit years of 2020 and 2021.
Excluding the two pandemic-affected years, 2025 saw the lowest total number of passengers at Billund since 2015.
In comparison, the 16.2 million passengers who travelled from Copenhagen Airport last year made up an 8 percent increase compared to 2024.
Ryanair announced the closure of its base at Billund in early 2025 and left the airport fully on April 1st, blaming passenger taxes introduced by the government. The company also withdrew from Aalborg Airport but continues to operate flights from Copenhagen as well as the smaller Aarhus Airport.
Billund Airport’s leadership has sought to attract new operators and destinations to replace the discontinued Ryanair services, with a long list of new flights announced throughout 2025.
LISTED: The new flights to and from Denmark in 2026
Billund Airport CEO Jan Hessellund told newspaper Børsen in May last year that a loss of some 850,000 passengers was expected as a result of the Ryanair exit.
The total number for both departing and arriving passengers at Billund last year was just over three million, a decline of 875,000 compared to 2024.
Hessellund also said he expected the after-effects to continue into 2026, when he anticipates a shortfall of 600,000 travellers compared with previous levels.
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