Over 78.4 million people traveled through Dutch airports last year

Dutch airports carried 78.4 million passengers in 2025, up nearly 3 percent from 2024 but still more than 3 percent below the levels seen in 2019, before the pandemic, CBS reported. The five national airports recorded 541,000 commercial flights, slightly more than the previous year, while air cargo dropped by over 3 percent to 1.47 million tons.

August was the busiest month, with 50,000 commercial flights and 7.6 million passengers. Sunday, August 3, was the single busiest day, with over 263,000 passengers passing through the five national airports. The quietest day came on Wednesday, January 15, when nearly 130,000 passengers traveled. Persistent fog forced Schiphol and Eindhoven airports to cancel hundreds of flights.

Schiphol remained by far the busiest airport, handling nearly 478,000 flights and 68.8 million passengers, representing 88 percent of all flights and travelers in the Netherlands. Passenger numbers at Schiphol were nearly 3 percent higher than in 2024 but still 4 percent below pre-pandemic levels.

Rotterdam The Hague and Eindhoven airports were the only national airports to surpass their 2019 passenger numbers. Eindhoven Airport carried more than 7 million passengers, a 2.3 percent increase from 2024, maintaining its position as the country’s second-busiest airport. Rotterdam The Hague Airport handled nearly 2.4 million passengers, up 5 percent from 2024. Compared with 2019, passenger traffic rose 12.5 percent at Rotterdam and 3.5 percent at Eindhoven.

Most passengers traveled within Europe. Of the 78.4 million travelers, 41.5 million flew within the EU, and 16.5 million flew to other European countries, making up 74 percent of all passengers. Among long-haul travelers, 36 percent went to or from North America and 31 percent to or from Asia.

Spain has become the most popular destination for Dutch travelers, overtaking the United Kingdom. In 2025, the busiest route was to Barcelona El Prat Airport, carrying 1.9 million passengers. Other major destinations included the United Kingdom (9.1 million), the United States (6 million), Italy (4.9 million), Germany (3.7 million), France (3.1 million), Portugal (2.8 million), Turkey (2.6 million), Greece (2.5 million), and Poland (2.2 million).

In air cargo, Maastricht Aachen Airport saw a large increase, with freight volumes up more than 41 percent to 41,600 tons, though the airport still accounts for only 3 percent of the Netherlands’ total air cargo. Amsterdam Schiphol handled 1.4 million tons, down more than 4 percent from 2024. Combined, Schiphol and Maastricht handled more than half of all cargo transported to and from Asia.