Schiphol was busier than last summer but still not at pre-pandemic levels

It was five percent busier at Schiphol last month than in July last year. But the number of travelers is still under the level of before the coronavirus pandemic, the new number provided by the airport showed.

Last month, the airport welcomed 6.3 million passengers, 4.2 million of whom flew directly or from Schiphol. Most went on trips to Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, and Greece.

Almost 2.1 million passengers who were transferring to another flight are also among the numbers. These are over a million unique passengers. In the internationally accepted counting method, they are counted twice, as passengers upon arrival and as passengers upon departure.

Before the pandemic, in July 2019, 6.7 million passengers visited the airport.

The numbers also showed that the airplanes were fuller on average than a year earlier. The number of flights rose by four percent, which is a smaller increase than the number of passengers. The number of flights to and from Schiphol was 42,452. There were slightly fewer cargo flights, 1,304, compared to 1,315 in July 2023.

Schiphol had already predicted that the summer holidays would be busier than last year. On peak days, the airport expected around 81,500 departing passengers.

Staff shortages at the airport's departments, such as security, caused long queues two years ago during the holiday periods. Schiphol was not expecting any chaotic situations this summer. Travelers do have to expect longer queues at check-in, security control, or passport control.