Connections in Copenhagen (CPH)
 

Hello -

A colleague and I are flying to Amsterdam from IAD via Copenhagen on SAS in July. Our travel agent has booked us a "legal" connection time of one hour (we arrive at 07:00 and leave for Amsterdam at 08:00). He (my colleague, not the travel agent) is having a bit of an issue with the fact that our connection time is so short and would rather we have an eight hour connection just to be safe. I disagree and maintain that as SAS is a Scandinavian airline and Copenhagen is a Scandinavian airport (I'm used to flying through Istanbul), one hour should be just fine - I think the poor man has just flown United too much.

So we have a bet going and are leaving it up to the FTers to determine who is buying the other a beer: Is a one hour connection time at Copenhagen on SAS enough, or are we sailing too close to the wind?

And on a slightly different topic for the bonus beer round: We're flying in J class but have no status on SAS. Will we be able to use the SAS lounge? I say yes, he says no...

Thanks in advance for any advice!

If you just arrive, with bags checked through to AMS and just have to go to another gate 1 hour is plenty of time in my opinion. If you miss the flight because your incoming flight is delayed you will just be rebooked on another flight to AMS and probably earlier than the 8 hours.

So keep the 1 hour connection time.

Assuming that both your flights are with SK on one ticket:

One hour is enough at CPH. And since you are in Biz, you should be able to reach the security checkpoint before the lines form there.

You'll have lounge access in CPH:
If your flight CPH-AMS is in SK Biz, you'll have lounge access in CPH based on this as well.

At IAD, SAS uses the LH lounge, it's a bit small but as all LH lounges it has a good spread of food and drinks.

I would say your friend owes you two beers, but you will have plenty of free German and Danish beer in the lounges and on your flight, so there is no need to actually collect it. ;)

The next SK flight CPH-AMS after 08:15 is 15:20. But in the unlucky event of a delay, it's always worth asking kindly about the possibility to get on one of the KL flights that leaves in between instead! The CPH lounge has a desk where you can get help. If the answer is negative on KL, go and enjoy the showers and the beer.

I flew IAD-CPH-GOT last Thursday and had a 50 min connection. In fact, according to the onboard transit gate screens, most people had 50-55mins connection and looks like all made them.

Since you are in business, you will deboard quickly and avoid the only bottleneck, which was a security checkpoint right after getting off the A340. They only have two lines there that moved pretty slow, many, many people were connection. That leads to an immigration hall which was deserted since security serves as a funnel point. EU immigration didn't even say one word to me.

I then had to make my way to the other side of the airport --- with no problems doing so. CPH was super easy.

You will be fine. One hour is more than in enough in CPH. And the SAS lounges are conveniently placed just after you cross the border checkpoint.

Last time I flew IAD-CPH I was in the lounge about 10 minutes after we landed (I was in biz).

There's a fairly short walk to security (2-3 minutes) which has two lanes, then you go down half a level and through passport control and the lounge is basically right there in front of you. And since you've already cleared security and passport control, you just have to walk to the gate for AMS which is probably 5-10 minutes max.

Whether or not you'll have time for a shower is another matter but you should be fine unless the plane is pretty late. And then, as another poster said, you should be rebooked on the later flight anyway unless you can convince SK to put you on the KLM flight at 1010 or 1145.

So enjoy the lounges in IAD and CPH and don't worry too much. The worst case scenario is that you get your eight hour connection after all.

Copenhagen - time needed for transfer.
 

As it is my first post on this forum I'd like to say hello to everybody ;)

Ok, to the business now. I'm about to book indirect flight from Warsaw to Aberdeen through Copenhagen, all operated by SAS. Price and travel time are very good, although I'm worried about transfer time which is only 35 minutes. I would normally take the risk as I flew more than few times in my life, but I'm booking for other person who is not very experienced in plane travelling. SAS advisor told me it should be enough as Copenhagen airport is fairly easy when it comes to transferring, plus this option wouldn't appear on their website if that wasn't doable.

Exact times of flights are:
14:10 - 15:35 SK752 Warsaw (Terminal A) - Copenhagen (Terminal 3)
16:10 - 17:00 SK1521 (QI) Copenhagen (Terminal 3) - Aberdeen

As you can see terminal is the same for both flights.

So what is your opinion? Will it be enough?

Thanks in advance!

//Sorry if I asked similar question to the one previously posted, but couldn't find anyone with that short time for transferring.

You will be fine. Easiest airport to connect and SAS normally on time.

The "Terminal 3" term is a bit misplaced. Departure/Arrival gates at CPH are A B C D. The Warsaw flight will probably arrive at B (but A or D is possible). The Aberdeen fight will leave from one of the C gates which is where most non- schengen flights leave from. So you will need to go through passport control when heading for the Aberdeen gate (as UK is not a Schengen member).
But easy and fast to transfer in Copenhagen, so don't worry..

Hey Mrcepan990,

and welcome to flyertalk.

As mentioned above transfer at CPH is very easy. Even though your friend is not a frequent flyer she will do just fine.

And remember SAS is the world most punctual airline: D

Thanks for your quick replies guys! I'm much more relaxed now ;) However I have one more question.

Wilbur12 mentioned gates on the airport. I was wondering if there's any closure time in situation like this? Or Departure time is the only thing I should remember about?

Welcome to FT!

Make sure that the second flight is actually operated, Cimber went bankrupt a few weeks ago.

I just did a similar trip through CPH this evening. From I arrived to I passed security/passport and to my new gate in the other end of the airport only 20 min was spent. Had a 45 min connection and had even time to spare. So there is normally no problem in CPH :-)

/HerrO

Hei,
I got a flight from Amsterdam to Oslo, via Copenhagen. I will have one hour time, do you think that is enough time for me to dash into the SAS lounge to take a bite, i will landing at 21:45, and flying further at 22:45?

Sincerely,

SB