Copenhagen bans ads for flights and petrol cars on bus shelters

Copenhagen will stop showing ads for flights, cruises and new petrol and diesel cars on city-owned ad space, the Danish news agency Ritzau reported on 6 November 2026. A majority of the city council backed the ban at its meeting on Thursday, 5 November. Hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars are covered too.

AFA JCDecaux must drop the ads from Copenhagen bus shelters

The ban covers bus shelters, advertising columns and any space the city owns, rents or controls. Private walls and screens are not affected. The city’s current outdoor contract is with AFA JCDecaux, and officials must now negotiate to phase the ads out “as quickly as possible”. No start date has been set.

Any new or extended contract must include a binding ban. Buses and the metro are not yet covered, because they are run by Movia and Metroselskabet. The city will ask both to stop these ads as well.

Alternativet, Enhedslisten and SF wrote the proposal

The three left-leaning parties proposed the ban, and the Social Democrats and Radikale Venstre supported it, according to Kristeligt Dagblad. The ban targets products, not companies. An airline can still advertise, for example, but not a flight. Ferries and regular route traffic are exempt.

Karoline Lindgaard, who leads Alternativet in the city council, said in a party statement that advertising works and shapes what people buy. Communications expert Sune Bang told Danish media that similar rules in Amsterdam and Edinburgh show no clear sign of real effect.

The Hague went first with the same list of products

The Hague already bans ads for flights, cruises and cars with fossil or hybrid engines in public space. Amsterdam and Edinburgh have similar limits.

The move follows a wider tightening of green advertising in Europe. The EU banned generic green claims in ads from September, even after it dropped the Green Claims Directive. In the UK, the regulator has banned travel ads over eco claims.

Airlines, cruise lines and car brands that book street posters in Copenhagen will lose the city’s own sites first. Car makers selling only electric models keep full access. Outdoor sellers lose a slice of travel and car spend there, and will try to fill it with other categories.