SAS expansion plan sparks noise and pollution concerns among Amager residents

Residents near Copenhagen Airport are protesting SAS’s 65 billion kroner investment in new aircraft, warning it will worsen noise and pollution on Amager, reports DR.

Finance Minister Peter Hummelgaard (S), whose family members have worked at the airport, called the plan “good news for all,” arguing it will boost economic growth in Copenhagen and Denmark.

But Annette Nyvang, a journalist with the citizen group “Borgere mod Lufthavnsforurening” (Citizens Against Airport Pollution), called the move “a step in the wrong direction.” She and midwife Trine Norreen demonstrated outside SAS’s press conference, holding a sign reading, “Think of the residents of Amager.”

Nyvang said passenger numbers have surged in recent years, bringing severe nighttime noise. “At 11 p.m., it’s like someone hits a button, and planes take off or land every 40 seconds,” she said. “With the heat, we can’t open windows to sleep.”

Norreen cited ultrafine particle pollution from aircraft fuel and noted the airport’s location dates from a time when Amager, now home to over 200,000 people, was far less populated. She also pointed to a record 38,479 complaints about noise and odour lodged with the Danish Environmental Protection Agency last year.

“We’re not against the airport,” Norreen said. “But there must be limits so residents can live here too.”