Number of air passengers increased by 4 percent in Q3 2024

© Hollandse Hoogte / Harold Versteeg
A total of 21.6 million air passengers passed through the Netherlands’ five major airports in the third quarter of 2024, up by 4 percent on Q3 2023. The number of commercial flights, passengers and the volume of air freight carried increased by over 2 percent to nearly 145.9 thousand. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this based on newly released figures.

In general, the majority of flights are operated in the third quarter, as well as passengers carried. It is the holiday period for schools and workers in the construction sector. August was the busiest month in Q3 and of the whole year so far, with 49.2 thousand flights and 7.4 million passengers.

Monday 29 July and Monday 5 August were the busiest days of the third quarter, when 252 thousand passengers passed through one of the Netherlands' five major airports. The quietest day was Friday 19 July, when 198.4 thousand passengers travelled to and from the Netherlands.

On Wednesday 28 August, an outage at Eindhoven Airport resulted in 65 percent fewer flights and 70 percent fewer passengers than on an average day in August this year.

Three-quarters of air passengers travel within Europe

Over 75 percent of air passengers in the Netherlands (16.3 million people) travelled to or from a destination in Europe in Q3 2024. The most popular countries to travel to and from were Spain (3.0 million air passengers), the United Kingdom (2.4 million) and Italy (1.5 million).

Among passengers travelling to or from countries outside Europe, nearly a third (1.7 million) flew to or from the United States.

Travelling to and from Spain is the most popular at three of the five airports

The most popular countries to travel to and from in Q3 varied between the major airports in the Netherlands. Amsterdam Schiphol was the most popular airport for passengers travelling to and from the United Kingdom (12 percent), followed by Spain at 11 percent.

Eindhoven Airport saw the most passengers travelling to and from Spain (29 percent), followed by Italy at over 12 percent. Spain is also the most popular among passengers passing through Rotterdam The Hague Airport at 39 percent, followed by Turkey and Morocco, which together account for over 21 percent of passengers.

At Groningen Airport Eelde, Spain also topped the list, and at Maastricht Aachen Airport it was Turkey.


Schiphol the second most popular airport in the EU

Over 87 percent of flights to and from the Netherlands were handled by Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Q3 2024 (127.3 thousand). The majority of passengers (18.7 million) travelling to and from the Netherlands also passed through this airport, and the total number of passengers was up by 5 percent on Q3 2023.

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol was the second-largest airport in the European Union (EU) after Paris Charles de Gaulle, with 61.9 million passengers in 2023. That year, Madrid and Frankfurt were ranked third and fourth among airports in the EU. Of the 10 busiest airports, Fiumicino (Rome) saw the largest increase in passengers, up by 38 percent on 2022.

Of the larger non-EU European airports, Istanbul Havalimani (Turkey) and London Heathrow (United Kingdom) were the largest with 76.0 and 79.2 million air passengers, respectively.

Sources