Talking geopolitical and activism security challenges in aviation with Johnnie Müller

For this exclusive International Airport Review podcast, Editor Holly Miles caught up with Johnnie Müller, Senior Vice President of Security Services and Crisis Response at Copenhagen Airport.

Johnnie discussed the security incident which saw the security checkpoint at Copenhagen temporarily closed on April 9, 2024, due to a “suspicious object” and their lessons learned. He also went on to discuss the rise in activism and drone-related security threats and how they are working to tackle this.

The threat of war and geopolitical tensions are the biggest threat according to Johnnie, European countries talk about preparing for war – defence budgets are increasing in Europe and in NATO allies and this has an impact on aviation, because if countries are increasing their armies then this has an effect on an airport’s workforce. 

Johnnie concluded by talking about his workforce, saying that after the COVID-19 pandemic, aviation has lost its appeal.

In 2022, 50% of the security workforce at the airport was new recruits, this number has now gone up and currently 65% of the airport’s security workforce have been recruited in the past 6 months. Copenhagen Airport runs its security in-house which they are very proud of and helps them create a strong security culture. 

Listen to this exclusive interview on security challenges in aviation now.