Copenhagen security queues leave 230 Norwegian passengers missing flights

Norwegian said 230 passengers missed flights at Copenhagen Airport during severe security queues on 22 and 23 October 2026. The number rose from 200 on Thursday to a further 30 on Friday, according to the airline’s Denmark chief Sara Neergaard. SAS separately said it had rebooked 352 travellers caught up in the disruption. These are passenger counts for different outcomes, not a claim that hundreds of flights were cancelled.

The immediate difficulty was getting through screening before boarding closed. A traveller quoted by Ritzau in The Copenhagen Post described waiting more than two hours before missing a flight to Rome. Queues stretched towards the airport metro on Thursday evening; there were further delays on Friday morning, although conditions reportedly improved around midday.

Additional screening, not a strike

Denmark’s Civil Aviation and Railway Authority, Trafikstyrelsen, had inspected the airport and required temporary additional security procedures. The regulator did not publish the findings that prompted the change. There is no basis in its account for attributing the measures to a specific threat, a strike or a runway problem.

Copenhagen Airport communications director Lise Agerley Kürstein explained to local travel media that more cabin bags were being checked by hand. Manual checks take longer than routine screening and, even when only some passengers are selected, can slow the whole queue when flights depart in clusters.

Extra staff were brought in, but the airport could not guarantee when the temporary procedures would end. An improvement was hoped for early the following week. Aircraft continued to operate; the immediate problem was passengers being unable to reach the departure gate in time.

What the figures and passenger rights mean

Norwegian’s breakdown was 200 passengers missing their flights on Thursday and another 30 on Friday. SAS reported 352 passengers rebooked, according to spokesperson Alexandra Lindgren Kaoukji. The figures were carried by Ritzau and The Local Denmark. They describe separate groups and should not be conflated with an airport-wide cancellation total.

For anyone due to travel through Kastrup, Copenhagen Airport advises arriving at least two hours before flights within Schengen and three hours before departures outside the area. Norwegian has advised allowing more than two hours. Passengers also need to meet their airline’s check-in and bag-drop deadlines, which can be earlier than boarding.

If security delays cause a missed departure, contact the airline promptly about rebooking and keep receipts, travel confirmations and evidence of when you arrived. Fixed compensation under EU Regulation 261/2004 should not be assumed merely because the screening queue was too long. The European Commission’s guidance states that a missed connection caused by security-check delays does not automatically qualify for that payment; other rights depend on the booking and circumstances.

The regulatory findings had not been disclosed as of Friday 23 October. For passengers, the immediate uncertainty is how long security screening will take before they can reach their gate.

Sources: Ritzau; The Local Denmark; The Copenhagen Post; TravelNews.dk; Copenhagen Airport; European Commission.