Cheap airlines grow in Netherlands, carrying third of all passengers

Dutch travelers are increasingly opting for budget airlines on their travels. More than 33 percent of all passengers going through a Dutch airport last year traveled with a cheap airline like Transavia, Ryanair or Easyjet, according to figures Statistics Netherlands released on Tuesday. Since 2004 the number of passengers flying with a budget airline to or from a Dutch airport doubled to more than 20 million. Regional airports like Eindhoven Airport in particular benefit from the substantial increase in budget travelers. But Schiphol still remains the number one airport for cheap airlines with about 70 percent of these airlines' passengers taking off from Schiphol. Nearly a quarter of the 55 million passengers traveling through Schiphol last year used a budget airline. The budget airlines contribute significantly to the growth in airline passengers, according to Statistics Netherlands. Between 2004 and 2014 the total number of airline passengers increased by 37 percent to 61 million. London remains the most popular destination for budget airline passengers, with 2 million travelers flying to London on a cheap airline last year. Spain, Turkey and Italy are also increasingly popular destinations.