If you have an early-morning flight from Copenhagen Airport, you may arrive to find the security checkpoint still closed. Here is exactly when it opens — and what today's first departure means for you.
“The security checkpoint adjusts its opening hours based on the flight schedule for the day. If there are flights throughout the night, the security checkpoint will remain open around the clock. However, it may temporarily close if there are no departures. The security checkpoint will always be open at least from 4 AM to 10 PM. Outside of these hours, they will open at least two hours before the first departure.”Source: Copenhagen Airport
In short: security is guaranteed open from 04:00 to 22:00. Before 04:00 it opens at least two hours before the first scheduled departure — so a 05:45 flight usually means security opens around 03:45.
If you arrive before it opens, you simply wait in the concourse — there is no queue ahead of you for the first flights, so you will still get through in good time.
Copenhagen Airport recommends arriving at least 2 hours before departure within the Schengen area, and at least 3 hours before departure outside the Schengen area. That advice is built for peak-of-day queues; for the very first flights the binding constraint is the opening time, not the queue.
Average security wait by time of day across our full history (every 5 minutes since 2022). This shows how busy it is — not when security opens. The very first flights have little or no queue.