News / What on earth is going on at Schiphol?

Schiphol photo: Herman Wouters

The Dutch cargo community is up in arms at the apparent refusal of Schiphol Airport to work with it to ensure cargo retains capacity, as well as its stature and importance to the country. 

Supply chain stakeholders, from handlers and airlines to shippers and forwarders, are angry that the airport is not defending freighter slots; that it has suggested cutting the number of airside cargo handlers from five to three; and that it appears to want to reduce its cargo department headcount (which it has denied). 

The situation has been exacerbated by political upheaval in the Netherlands and the planned replacement of Schiphol’s CEO in June. 

Slots, as ever, is one key issue. 

“My concern is the current focus of the airport on reducing the number of slots,” said shipper Lars Droog. “In my opinion, the airport ignores the fact that there are several stakeholders with an important interest and should therefore have a say, and be heard.” 

Another key player at Schiphol, who preferred not to be named for fear of reprisal, told The Loadstar: “The idea behind this new strategy seems to be that ‘the number of slots will shrink, and this will damage the cargo hub, but get over it’.  

“The new focus is on being a high-quality multimodal cargo hub. It’s not quite clear what is meant by ‘multimodal’. Road feeder services? Shippers have been asking for years for enough slots at Schiphol Airport. This doesn’t answer their question. 

“Joost van Doesburg, head of cargo, stated recently that he would not help the sector guarantee a minimum number of slots for full freighters. This will damage the position of Schiphol as a cargo hub.” 

Shippers say a lot of cargo has already left Schiphol. Royal Flora Holland, which imports 20% of its flowers, mostly from Kenya and Ethiopia, already now has six flights a day into Liege (LGG). 

One flower shipper said: “We are based near Schiphol, so it’d be ideal if the flowers came in there. The issue is the decline in the volume of flights coming in, and that’s a pity.  

“Schiphol is choosing to use slots for passengers while other airports offer plenty of capacity to cargo airlines. What has been missing from Schiphol is slots – and it’s very hard to follow the actual status of slots. The numbers are fluctuating all the time, and it doesn’t offer a perspective for the cargo community, and that’s a shame.” 

Flower shippers say they have great relations with supply chain partners in Amsterdam, such as Customs and phytosanitary.

“Everyone knew exactly how to handle flowers. The supply chain is important, and that supply chain is crumbling. 

“The main flow used to be to AMS, but now it’s coming from different airports, such as MAS, BRU, LGG and Ostend, and trucked to us, which is much less efficient. We have to deal with different partners, different authorities, Belgian Customs, Dutch Customs. You’d think being in the EU they would be aligned 100%, but there are still some differences. 

“I am very concerned that cargo will leave the Netherlands altogether.” 

Mr Droog added: “For most shippers, direct flights are preferred over indirect flights, owing to longer lead times, higher risk on damages/delays and higher emissions, so for shippers with manufacturing and/or warehousing facilities in the Netherlands, it’s really important to keep cargo at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.” 

Maastricht has seen a heavy decline in volumes, according to a 2023 volume estimate which suggested flown cargo was down 67% between 2022 and 2023. (Shippers argue that Maastricht, now under Schiphol’s umbrella, doesn’t work as an alternative – “there is not enough space, the physical area is not suitable”, etc) 

Freighter movements at Schiphol were down some 13% in 2023, although volumes in tonnes fell 4%. 

The flower importer said: “I am glad there is space at LGG, but the problem is the flowers come by truck; there is a shift to road, which means a longer lead time and impact and pressure on road infrastructure in the Netherlands, where there are several road infrastructure issues such as closures. We want less road transport. 

“In the past couple of years, Schiphol has really missed the urgency, awareness and understanding of how important cargo is for the community.” 

But a spokesperson for Schiphol claimed: “We attach great importance to freight. Relatively speaking, cargo provides many jobs and is valuable for the Dutch economy, the business climate and international trade. Preserving cargo is therefore part of Schiphol’s 8-point plan.  

“Specifically, this means that Schiphol wants to preserve and protect cargo by keeping 2.5% of the number of take-off and landing rights available for it. We are still working closely on this with parties such as Air Cargo Netherlands (ACN) and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.” 

It added: “It’s really important that local residents are noticeably less inconvenienced. The need for night-time closure of Schiphol becomes even greater. This will obviously impact some cargo flights, but we are convinced that in the broader balance of interests, it is a good and important measure. Besides, many cargo airlines also operate flights during the day.” 

Many stakeholders are upset by two strategic plans: one developed by the cargo community, which they say Schiphol declined to co-sign just before publication. The other strategic plan is Schiphol’s, which the community believes was undertaken without collaboration with, or understanding of, cargo’s concerns. 

“We’ve said, ‘let’s work together on a strategic agenda, including sustainability’, but Schiphol said it was not the time,” said Eveline Jonker, manager at shippers’ group eveofendex, which worked on the plan. 

“And last month they said they would not co-sign our plan. I don’t know what happened. In my opinion it’s a loss that it hasn’t signed.” 

A spokesperson for Schiphol responded: “There are good elements in [the plan]. At the same time, it does not contain a number of things we do advocate, such as a night closure, banning private jets… These proposals come from our 8-point plan to make Schiphol quieter, cleaner and better. Naturally, we are happy to work with the entire sector on sustainability and improvement.” 

But Ms Jonker said: “Schiphol’s 8-point plan was created under pressure from local residents. It is targeted only at keeping locals satisfied, not on the long-term strategy. It has one point about cargo, the rest is targeting passenger satisfaction.” 

She added: “They don’t actively talk to us. We are not wedded to Schiphol, we can use any airport, but it’d be a shame not to use it. There is an assumption by the airport that air cargo volumes will be the same or grow – but I don’t think that’s the case if they continue working like this.  

“Dutch shippers are concerned about Schiphol’s strategy. It’s unclear and inconsistent. It’s not about working together. My worry is that Schiphol is only concerned with Schiphol, not about making a strategic plan for western Europe. It’s already creating uncertainty for shippers and many are now using other airports. But it’s not only Dutch shippers, it’s shippers in Japan, and the US. The choice whether to handle cargo is not for Schiphol to decide – it’s for customers to decide.”

Schiphol responded: “We are absolutely not afraid of losing shippers from the country. We are still seeing an influx of European distribution centres to the Netherlands.” 

One of the biggest concerns is the apparent plan to cut cargo handlers.  

“From the start, Joost van Doesburg wanted to cut the number of handlers down without discussing it with them,” explained Ms Jonker. “Schiphol thought it was too complex, operations weren’t optimal. They seem to prefer trucks.” 

One cargo stakeholder explained: “After the chaos in 2022 with passenger operations, Schiphol asked the Ministry of Infrastructure to examine if it was possible to ‘close the open market for handling companies’.  

“We were very surprised to find out that airside cargo handlers were part of the scope. We do not see any reason for cutting the number of air cargo handlers because there are no problems. The number of cargo ground handlers is relatively low, not high.” 

One airline source said Schiphol management had been summoned to Dubai to explain itself to dnata, which has invested millions in its Dutch facility and has, said the source, now been told it can stay. KLM’s cargo handling is also reportedly set to stay, but there are concerns for others.

“They are asking why Schiphol is sticking its nose in.” 

One handler told The Loadstar: “This is related to the passenger ramp, not cargo, but it could expand to cargo as well. AMS is very indecisive.” 

The ministry is thought to be taking a decision on the proposed cuts this month, but “things are much more complicated now”, said one stakeholder. 

Much of the blame for Schiphol’s lack of cooperation with cargo stakeholders has been laid at the door of Mr van Doesburg, who was appointed Schiphol’s head of cargo in March last year. Previously, he had worked both for the European Shippers Council and evofenedex, and latterly he was a union leader at Schiphol. 

“The sector expected Mr van Doesburg to help them, and is very disappointed,” said one stakeholder. “The strikes he organised were one of the reasons for the operational chaos in 2022 at the airport. He was subsequently recruited by Schiphol, based on the idea that it’s ’better to have your enemies inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in’.” 

But now, according to sources, Mr van Doesburg is just pissing inside the tent.  

One executive said: “Mr van Doesburg is a go-getter with a lot of energy. He is very good at making waves, but doing it in this specific situation, he has created a kind of uncontrolled tsunami.” 

A shipper said: “Expectations were high about him, but since his appointment it has been very quiet, and he hasn’t come up with a good plan. There is a lot of uncertainty.” 

And the airline source said: “Joost is trying to create uproar – as a union leader, that’s what you want. But this is a different role. 

“Everyone says we need more planes, but Joost is not in favour of flying. He’s very opinionated about aviation – so why take the job? 

“Joost is asking, ‘why bother fighting for freighter slots?’ He wants to shrink, shrink, shrink.” 

The shrinkage is not confined to freighter slots, according to multiple sources, but also concerns the airport’s cargo department, which has been known to be one of the strongest globally. Sources say that there has been some pressure to cut cargo managers in the department, but the airport’s union and HR have declined. However, one manager, who was said to have disagreed with the airport’s cargo plan, remains on ‘gardening leave’ while the airport determines their fate. 

“It’s an extremely unfair situation, and a lot of people have been wrongly penalised, and threatened. Why is this happening?”, said the airline executive. 

Schiphol has denied that it planned to cut staff numbers from the cargo department. 

So, what do the stakeholders want?

The flower shipper said: “Getting us together at the table, working together, to maintain a well-functioning airport. That’s the target. Cooperation with Schiphol is now very hard.

“We would like Schiphol to reserve a certain number of slots for cargo. Slots are already down – let’s preserve what we’ve got.” 

Mr Droog summed up: “The airport is of the utmost importance for the Netherlands and the Dutch economy/trade. The Netherlands is a small country and ‘connectivity’ has always been very important in its history.  

“This connectivity for both passengers and freight is a unique selling point and makes the Netherlands attractive for international organisations. In addition, collaboration is in our DNA and I truly believe that this will help with the transition to a more sustainable aviation industry.  

“There are currently many incredibly beautiful and successful partnerships between various organisations, which are of enormous importance for further sustainability in the Netherlands, but also in the rest of the world – so it would be very strange if our national airport would not cooperate.” 

Schiphol insisted yesterday it was collaborating with supply chain partners.

“We are in consultation with the sector several times a week. As a matter of fact, even today we spoke with the chairman and director of ACN.” 

Air Cargo Netherlands was not available for comment.