Amsterdam Schiphol Airport expects to continue increasing passenger traffic during 2026, despite the Dutch government’s reduction in permitted flights coming into force.
The Netherlands government has finally introduced its new cap of 478,000 annual flights, which is down from Schiphol’s previous limit of 500,000 aircraft “movements” per year. The reduction is designed to reduce noise pollution from the airport.
Royal Schiphol Group, which also runs Eindhoven and Rotterdam The Hague airports, said in its annual financial report that Schiphol increased traffic to 68.8 million passengers in 2025, which was a rise of 3 per cent compared with 2024 but was still down on the 2019 figure of 71.7 million passengers.
Schiphol catered for 477,552 flights in 2025, which was just below the newly imposed cap level. This represented a 1 per cent rise in aircraft movements compared with 2024 but was nearly 4 per cent lower than the 497,000 flights at Schiphol in 2019.
The group said demand for travel “remains consistently high” and it expected passenger numbers to increase in 2026, despite the reduced cap on the number of permitted flights. The report added that Schiphol would benefit from the “deployment of larger and new aircraft”, and it currently expects to cater for between 68 and 72 million passengers this year.
Schiphol drew strong criticism from airlines when it increased airport charges by 41 per cent from April 2025. Although it has now decided to scrap a further planned 5 per cent rise in charges from April 2026.
Pieter van Oord, CEO of Royal Schiphol Group, said in the report: “Airport charges have risen significantly over the past four years, and we recognise the significant impact these increases have had on airlines.
“At the same time, we firmly believe that improving the quality of the airport is necessary and will benefit all partners. To remain competitive, it is our intention to have stable airport charges for the rest of this decade. This is of course dependent on external factors and regulatory aspects.”
The group increased revenue by 23 per cent in 2025 to €2.76 billion, up from €2.25 billion in the previous year, while underlying net profit rose from €291 million in 2024 to €550 million last year.
CFO Robert Carsouw said: “Schiphol is financially robust, and it is essential that it is kept that way. We are investing more than ever in the quality of our airport, so that we can restore Schiphol to the top three quality airports in Europe.”
He added that the airport “must remain affordable for airlines and travellers”, and the group was focused on seeking “the right balance” between its charges and investments.