News / Schiphol grows cargo volumes – but airport stakeholders want more

© Devy

News that Schiphol (AMS) has grown its cargo volumes in the first half of the year has not dispelled stakeholder concern about the amount of cargo capacity at the airport. 

AMS revealed this week that its H1 freight volumes this year were 8.7% up on the same period of 2023. For the first six months of 2024, AMS handled 738,414 tonnes of cargo. 

This was largely due to a 12.5% growth in passenger flights, which meant belly cargo grew 23.3% year on year, to 305,593 tonnes.  

The number of full freighter flights dropped by 5.4%, but were still responsible for a “steady” 432,820 tonnes of cargo, while freighter capacity overall rose 13%. 

However, the airport stakeholders remain concerned about a number of issues. Air Cargo Netherlands (ACN) pointed to data which shows how many freighter flights operated on an ‘ad hoc’ basis, rather than via historic slot rights. 

“Demand for slots for full freighters at Schiphol has been higher than available slots for years now,” explained MD Maarten van As.

“A large number of full freighter flights at Schiphol are flown with an ad hoc status; this is something to worry about. The industry needs approximately 15,000 to 17,500 slots a year.” 

                          Historics                    Total flown                  Ad hoc 

2016/2017      16,937                          17,875                         938 

2017/2018      15,889                          15,518                          371 

1018/2019      13,608                          14,220                          612 

2019/2020     12,945                          20,835                      7,890 

2020/2021      12,901                          24,760                      11,859 

2021/2022      12,613                          19,523                        6,910    

2022/2023      13,121                          17,175                         4,054 

2023/2024      11,641                          15,702                        4,041 

Source: ACN

Mr van As added: “If more slots were available at Schiphol for cargo planes, the figures would undoubtedly be even more positive. Schiphol is a magnet for air cargo and as a sector we are working hard to maintain that position. This is not always easy given the ‘not in my backyard’ political discussions about air cargo in the Netherlands.” 

Olaf van Reeden, cargo partnerships director for Schiphol, said: “Global trade development, as well as geopolitical disruptions, have boosted demand for air transport. 

“Schiphol connects 303 destinations, and we are focused on maximising the use of our ad hoc slots to continue to support our customers with freighter capacity.” 

Mr van As also noted discussions at the airport concerning airport fees, which have gone up nearly 15% this year. And he said: “It looks like the airport fees for Schiphol will increase enormously in the coming years.

“Our fear is that the airport, thereby de facto, will close the door for full freighters. A Heathrow scenario? With the difference that there is no good alternative for full freighters in the Netherlands. The runway at Maastricht is too short.” 

However, one shipper can see an alternative to the current set-up in the Netherlands. Willum Van den Hoogen, MD of Florius international in Dubai, said there were several airports to choose from, including Liege (LGG), Brussels (BRU), Maastricht (MST) and Ostend-Bruges. 

“This is not just a discussion about slots,” he said, “it is also a discussion on air traffic rights, granting carriers fifth-freedom rights to land in the Netherlands when they fly flowers from Africa.  

“Additionally, it involves a noise and pollution debate. I can understand this to some extent, as the area near Schiphol is highly populated, wealthy and focused on the intercontinental passenger network.  

“What is incomprehensible, however, is that [Royal Schiphol Group] has a brand new airport next to Amsterdam in Lelystad, which remains empty and idle. They could easily move the vacation flights there and maintain both intercontinental passenger and cargo routes [at Schiphol].

“But now we are touching on the perplexing choices of the Netherlands’ political mediation (polder) model.”

The flower shipper added: “In reality, a significant percentage of the volume is already flying to MST, BRU and LGG.

“We have been pushing a lot to get good-quality routes, and that is currently non-stop direct to Amsterdam, and it’s getting harder every season. Hence, we need a good alternative soon.” 

He explained that Florius international was based in the east of the Netherlands, making the choice between Belgian and Dutch airports a “neutral” one, most of the flower sector is based in the west of the country, making AMS the preferred choice. 

But, he added: “That said, other factors come into play – is there enough non-stop direct capacity available to AMS?  Would I be willing to pay a premium for this?”

The new Dutch government has changed its stance on Schiphol and restrictions on slots, “acting much more realistically on this issue,” said Mr van As.  

However, he added that the new minister of infrastructure said a ‘cargo pool’ for slots would be against European regulations, a stance ACN disagrees with.

“At the same time, he says he wants to support the cargo pool and is open to solutions,” added Mr van As. 

Meanwhile, Schiphol’s North American and African exports in the first half showed the strongest growth, at 22% and 26%, year on year respectively. Inbound cargo from the Middle East grew 19% and Europe by 20%. 

Mr van As said the airport was expecting a Q4 peak.

“We see an air cargo market that is booming at this moment, also driven by ecommerce. We foresee an ‘old school’ year-end peak at Schiphol for the first time since the Covid crisis.”