Dutch airports' traveler numbers not yet back to pre-pandemic levels in 2022

Air travel in the Netherlands did not recover to the level before the coronavirus pandemic last year, figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) show. Compared to 2019, a quarter fewer travelers flew to and from the Netherlands in 2022.

A total of 61.3 million passengers flew to and from a Dutch airport last year, more than twice as many as in the previous year. Three-quarters of travelers stayed in Europe. There were more flight movements last year, and three-quarters of the seats were occupied per flight. In 2019, the last year before the coronavirus pandemic, four out of five seats were occupied.

The summer holidays were the busiest period at Schiphol and at the airports of Rotterdam, The Hague, Eindhoven, Maastricht, and Groningen. In August, 6.4 million travelers flew to and from the Netherlands, and 6.2 million in July.

Schiphol has struggled with staff shortages since May last year, resulting in many travelers having to wait in lines for hours during the summer months. Many missed their flights. Schiphol is still looking for staff and will hold another job market on Saturday to recruit more employees.

The number of cargo flights increased by 53 percent compared to 2021 to 463,000. That was still 18 percent lower than in 2019. The amount of freight transported was lower. Last year, 1.5 million tons of goods were flown to and from the Netherlands, 14 percent less than in 2021. In 2019, freight transport amounted to 1.7 million tons.