Billund Airport anticipates a loss of 850,000 travelers this year alone due to the end of its collaboration with Ryanair. The airport’s CEO, Jan Hessellund, shared this information with Børsen, highlighting the significant impact of the separation.

The airport expects the negative impact to continue into 2026, with an estimated 600,000 fewer travelers compared to pre-separation levels. Last year, Billund Airport served a total of 3.9 million passengers. In April, the airport already experienced a drop of nearly 100,000 passengers compared to the same month the previous year, signaling the immediate consequences of Ryanair’s departure.

While the airport is actively seeking to mitigate the losses, it acknowledges that restoring traffic to previous levels will take time. The airport is in discussions with several airlines to establish new routes and partnerships.

Ryanair’s decision to close its base in Billund on April 1 followed the introduction of a new passenger tax of DKK 50 on all departures from Denmark. Subsequently, the airport and the airline failed to reach an agreement, leading to the cancellation of Ryanair’s planned 24 routes for this year.

Billund Airport has been working to offset the losses by securing new agreements with other airlines. British Airways has increased its departures to London, and Wizz Air has expanded its connections to Gdansk, Vilnius, and Iasi. Furthermore, Air Greenland has launched two weekly departures to Nuuk, and SAS has resumed flights between Billund and Copenhagen with four daily departures. Jesper Klausholm, director of route development, marketing, and communication, has stated that while recovering the losses will be a lengthy process, the situation also presents opportunities for other low-cost airlines to fill the void left by Ryanair.