Copenhagen: using the turnaround to track emissions
Copenhagen's Assaia programmes bring AI observation of aircraft stands into two decisions: how a turnaround is running and how long an aircraft's auxiliary power unit remains on. Environmental measurement is not the same as a proven emissions reduction.
Aerial view of Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup. Photograph: kallerna / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped to fit). Shows the airport, not an AI implementation.
The picture at Copenhagen
The engine keeps running after arrival
An aircraft's auxiliary power unit can continue running on stand while baggage, catering and boarding work takes place. Ground power may be available, but the airport first needs an accurate account of actual APU use.
Copenhagen introduced Assaia's EmissionsControl in September 2025, extending computer vision already relevant to aircraft turnaround events. Earlier that year, a Total Airport Management collaboration with Assaia and Smarter Airports was announced to connect live apron information with operational decisions.
These are closely related systems, not two unrelated declarations that Copenhagen has 'adopted AI'. The claimed delay savings have been published by a supplier; the emissions system gives visibility into APU operation rather than verified carbon reductions.
Selected implementations
What a stand camera can tell an airport
01 / Deployed
Measuring auxiliary power use on stand
The operational problem
Airport teams cannot verify a reduction in APU use without knowing how long it ran and at which stand.
What the sources report
Assaia says EmissionsControl went live on 9 September 2025 across most Copenhagen stands, monitoring APU operation with AI-powered cameras.
Why it matters
Time-stamped APU observations could support ground-power policies and an auditable emissions programme.
What remains unproven
The available release does not quantify an actual reduction in APU minutes or emissions caused by the monitoring.
Evidence supports a reported claim; it does not automatically establish a measured operating benefit.
02 / Deployed
A turnaround signal reaches the operations plan
The operational problem
Ground teams need reliable stand events to revise off-block estimates during late arrivals.
What the sources report
Assaia and Smarter Airports announced their Total Airport Management collaboration in April 2025, linking ApronAI observations with Airhart's operational orchestration. Assaia reported a 6.5-minute average delay reduction for a defined late-arrival comparison.
Why it matters
The interest lies in acting on real events rather than only collecting video data.
What remains unproven
The claimed saving is supplier-reported; its baseline, coverage and independent replication need inspection.
Evidence supports a reported claim; it does not automatically establish a measured operating benefit.
The wider register
What else is happening at Copenhagen?
Automated passport-control e-gates installed in 2016 remain in the register. Their age and biometric function do not establish a current AI operation.
Automated passport control e-gates at Copenhagen Airport Pier C, installed 2016 · Deployed · limited scope
Copenhagen Airport installed nine automated passport control e-gates at Pier C in 2016, Future Travel Experience reported in June 2016. Vision-Box, which supplied the system, said the bank of three departure, three arrival and three two-way gates handles both departures and arrivals at Pier C, with the Danish Police running border control.
Eligibility, as Future Travel Experience described it, was limited to EU citizens aged 18 or over with e-passports. Both reports date from 2016; neither describes how the gates are used today.
Evidence supports a reported claim; it does not automatically establish a measured operating benefit.
A measured duration is the beginning of the evidence
Copenhagen's case is unusually specific about the signal it wants to capture: an APU running and a turnaround task completed.
The stronger future story would trace those observations through a documented operational intervention to fewer delayed departures or fewer minutes of APU use.
Live data from the Aerostack register. Status reflects published evidence only. See Our approach for how records are graded.
Aerostack register · 3 tracked deployments
Aerostack tracks AI deployments across airports and airlines, with the published evidence behind each record. Photography is real aviation imagery. Record thumbnails may show the named airport or airline; other photographs do not.
