Up to 10% decline in air transport movements predicted
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is predicting a drop of between 6-10% in air transport movements in 2009.
The Dutch hub said its handled 47.4m passengers last year, a drop of 0.8% on 2007.
The year also saw a fall in the number of air transport movements down by 1.8% to 428,350.
The airport said the drop in figures was a "direct result of the global financial crisis."
But it said the new Dutch Air Passenger Tax, introduced on July 1, also contributed to the fall in numbers.
Low cost carriers, it said, now operated 25% fewer flights at the airport because of the tax.
Jos Nijhuis, president of the Schiphol Group, said: "Nobody knows how long and deep the current recession will be.
"In August we thought that passenger numbers would decrease by another 1% in 2009.
"However, as the global financial crisis deepened in the final months of 2008 we have had to reassess our business strategy.
"We will need to make adjustments to our budget and scheduled investments for 2009. Just a few months ago we had anticipated around €470m in investments for 2009.
"But of these, several projects to the value of €180m have been postponed at least until 1 April."
Mr Nijhuis said he expected corporate social responsibility to play a key role in Schiphol's future strategy and be a priority for investment in 2009.
www.schipholgroup.com