Record year for Schiphol Airport

Schiphol Airport welcomed a record number of 55 million passengers in 2014, according to Schiphol Group CEO Jos Nijhuis. The preliminary figures, released Monday, demonstrate an increase of 4.6 percent. The CEO is also expecting a slight growth in both passenger numbers and freight in 2015 as well. Schiphol Airport is not the only one to see growth in 2014. Both Schiphol Group's regional airports, Eindhoven and Rotterdam-The Hague, increased their passenger numbers from the -previous year. As expected, 3.9 million passengers went through Eindhoven Airport bringing an increase of 16 percent. Eindhoven Airport is also planning on expanding more within the coming 5 years. Meanwhile, Rotterdam-The Hague airport increased its passenger flow up to 1.7 million passengers in 2014, meaning 6.1 percent better result compared to 2013. Number of destinations from Schiphol remained similar to that of 2013, which is 297. However the locations, including freight, decreased slightly from 2013, the number now being 317. The figures show overall growth of the entire Schiphol Group but CEO Jos Nijhuis remains stoic. "This is no reason for complacency, however. In collaboration with our home carrier KLM, other airlines and business partners we will continue to work hard to strengthen the role of Schiphol as a Mainport with a view to remaining Europe's Preferred Airport," he states. "Our regional airports equally play a key role here." While Schiphol has been making sharp investments for several years, Nijhuis feels like there is still work to be done. "All of us believe that the accessibility of Schiphol can be improved. The north-south [Amsterdam] metro line has to be extended to reach Schiphol, as an additional express public transport connection to Amsterdam is crucial for Mainport Schiphol," he says. "Of course, the final decision rests with the politicians, but our attitude is clear: we simply need to get this done!"