LONDON – In 2022, The Netherlands’ largest airport Amsterdam Schiphol processed 52.2 million passengers. This is an impressive 106% increase compared to the levels of 2021 at 25.5 million, but fewer than in 2019 at 71.7 million passengers.
The group’s other airports, including Eindhoven, Rotterdam The Hague faired okay, but as expected, are still far from pre-pandemic levels.
Amsterdam Schiphol
In 2022, Schiphol witnessed 52.2 million whilst 37% of the total amount of travellers had connecting flights through the Dutch airport. This means that 9.6 million passengers were on a connecting flight. Last year, the airport recorded 397,646 air transport movements.
This is a 49% increase compared to 2021 of 266,969 movements. This, however, translates to a 20% decrease compared to 2019, at 496,826 air transport movements.
Destinations from Schiphol
Schiphol is the heartbeat of the Netherlands and connects the Kingdom to 313 destinations. 129 destinations of those destinations were intercontinental – i.e South America and North America.
Last year alone, the airport welcomed 27 new destinations, 10 of which were flown to in 2021 and were not flown to in 2022. Some of these destinations included Austin (United States), Denpasar Bali (Indonesia) and Rovaniemi (Finland).
One of the most popular destinations is to the constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, such as Curacao, which increased by 19% and an increase of 59% to Bonaire relative to pre-pandemic levels. Destinations to the Dutch Antilles are being flown by KLM and TUI Fly.
Cargo Traffic
In 2022, the Amsterdam airport handled 1.44 million tonnes of cargo, which is an unsurprising 14% compared to the cargo-dependent year of 2021 at 1.66 million tonnes. Yet, this is 9% short of cargo handled in 2019 at 1.57 million tonnes.
In 2022 alone, there were 18,340 cargo-only flights, which is a 24% decrease to 2021 of 23,996 cargo-only flights. This level is 30% below pre-pandemic levels of 14,156 only cargo-only flights.
Eindhoven Airport
Eindhoven Airport, a regional airport located in the city of Eindhoven, primarily caters for general aviation and low-cost carriers. The airport carried 2.7 million passengers in 2021 to 6.3 million in 2022, which is a 135% increase.
Eindhoven Airport witnessed a significant rise in air transport movements to 40,252, which is an 86% increase relative to 2021, which saw 21,704 air transport movements.
However, 2022 for Eindhoven is rather impressive as air traffic movements are nearing pre-pandemic levels, at 3% of 2019 levels. The airport also welcomed new destinations, which lie at 86, 7 more than in 2021.
Rotterdam The Hague Airport
One of the busiest regional airports in the Randstad region, Rotterdam The Hague Airport saw 2.1 million people pass through. This is a 180% increase to 2021. The regional airport witnessed 5.772 air transport movements in 2021.
This is an impressive 156% increase relative to 2021 levels, at 6,355 air transport movements. It is just 5% short of 2019 levels. The airport also welcomed new destinations, which lie at 57, 21 more than in 2021.
Dutch airports are experiencing an upward trend in terms of passenger levels. With both Rotterdam and Eindhoven Airports edging towards a full pre-pandemic recovery, Schiphol has more room to grow.
As China has just reopened its border and reinstated international travel, Schiphol’s international capacity is set to grow even further.
