Quarter of Netherlands residents responsible for three-quarters of flights

A quarter of Dutch people made three-quarters of all flights in our country this year and last year, the Knowledge Institute for Mobility Policy (KiM) reported after research among 4,000 Dutch people about flights between September 2023 and August 2024. The KiM considers a flight to be a return trip, including transfers.

According to the KiM, half of all Netherlands residents did not fly at all during this period. The other half mainly took the plane to go on holiday, for a city trip, or to visit family or friends.

In addition, the knowledge institute called 13 percent of residents frequent flyers. They made three or more flights per year. These were mainly highly educated people, people between the ages of 25 and 29, and Dutch people with a high income of more than 165,000 euros per year. According to the KiM, this is because some people in this group travel for business several times a year.

Furthermore, 77 percent of respondents indicated that they would fly in the future. The rest named flight shame as the main reason for not doing so - they avoid flying because of its impact on the environment or the climate. Many also said it was too expensive.