Schiphol back in black with €101M profit, but not out of the woods yet

The Schiphol Group has booked its first black figures since the pandemic. Schiphol closed 2023 with a profit of 101 million euros after suffering a 19 million euro loss in 2022. But while the results are back in the black, Schiphol warned that its financials are still under pressure “because of significant cost increases and investments with the necessary quality improvements.” A massive 70.9 million passengers traveled through the Schiphol Group airports last year, up from 60.8 million in 2022.

The Schiphol Group’s revenue increased strongly by 24.4 percent to 1.852 million euros. Despite its net profit of 101 million euros last year, “Business Area Aviation remains heavily loss-making, and Schiphol Group proposes not to pay out any dividend to its shareholders over 2023,” the company said.

There were 441,969 flight movements at Schiphol Airport last year, up 11 percent compared to 2022. Last year, 61.9 million passengers traveled through the Amsterdam airport, up from 52.5 million in 2022. Cargo volumes dropped 4 percent to 1.38 million tons.

Eindhoven Airport handled 6.8 million passengers (6.3 million in 2022) on 39,996 flight movements (38,143 in 2022). Rotterdam The Hague Airport’s passenger numbers increased from 2 million in 2022 to 2.2 million last year, and flight movements from 15,772 to 16,191.

For this year, Schiphol expects the increase in passenger numbers to continue, along with a slight increase in flight movements. “The demand for air travel remains high for the time being despite the increasing price of tickets.” The company expects 460,000 - 483,000 flight movements and 65-69 million passengers at Schiphol Airport this year.

Schiphol invested a lot in higher wages and better working conditions last year, including investments in lifting aids in the baggage areas and measures to protect employees better from emissions, the company said. “This is an ongoing process.” It also hired more security guards, “significantly contributing to passengers traveling comfortably again.” Schiphol also devised an 8-point plan to make the airport structurally quieter, cleaner, and better.

“It is time to further invest in the quality at Schiphol. Recent investments really paid off. Both working at and traveling through Schiphol has considerably improved,” said Ruud Sondag, CEO of Royal Schiphol Group. “We must continue to invest if we want to secure quality for airlines, passengers and employees. 2023 also marks our turning point in our concerns for our neighbours and the climate. More than ever, we are motivated to contribute to these topics.” According to him, Schiphol continues to work “to be an excellent airport for everyone at and around Schiphol.”