Passenger traffic to and from the Netherlands‘ five main airports totalled 76.2 million last year, which is a 7% increase on 2023, new data from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) noted.
While passenger numbers are up year-on-year, they are 6% lower compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019, the data showed.
The third quarter of 2024 reported the biggest share of passenger numbers – as in most years – with August the busiest month of the year, with 49,200 flights and 7.4 million passengers recorded.
The busiest days of the year were Monday 29 July and Monday 5 August, while the quietest day was Tuesday 16 January, CBS noted.
Schiphol leads the way
The increase in passenger traffic last year was primarily driven by Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, which saw a 7.2% rise in the number of flights and an 8% increase in passenger numbers in 2024, totalling 66.8 million passengers.
Also reporting growth was Maastricht Aachen airport, which saw 5.5% more flights last year than the previous year, however this was due to the fact that a runway at the airport was closed for two months in 2023.
Eindhoven Airport, the second-busiest airport in the Netherlands, reported a slight decrease in passengers (-18,000), but still reported total passenger numbers of 6.9 million last year.
Of the 76.2 million air passengers that flew to and from Dutch airports in 2024, 74% traveled within Europe. Spain remained the most popular destination, accounting for 10 million passengers, followed by the UK with 9.2 million and the US with 6 million.
Read more: What is the busiest airport in the European Union?
Cargo and freight
Elsewhere, some 537,000 cargo flights were recorded at the main Dutch airports last year, which is a 6% increase on the previous year, while air freight transport was up nearly 8% year-on-year, to 1.5 million tonnes.
Schiphol handled the majority of air freight, with 1.5 million tonnes, marking an 8.2% increase from the previous year. Most of this freight came from Asia, which saw a 9.4% increase in cargo handled compared to 2023. Central and North America followed as the second-largest source of air freight to and from the Netherlands. Read more here.
