Traffic and transport figures for March 2020
The number of flights to and from Schiphol in March fell by 36.8% to a total of 25,155. The number of travellers arriving, departing or transferring at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol decreased by 56.1% to 2.5 million. The figures for March are entirely dominated by the impact of coronavirus. The corona virus’ impact is seen as the main reason for the reduction in figures.
Cargo
The number of cargo flights during the month rose by 3.2% compared to the same month last year, to reach a total of 1,338. There was a significant increase in the number of dedicated cargo aircraft at Schiphol (+25%) in the last week of March. Even though cargo is generally carried in a dedicated cargo aircraft, there are also combinations of passenger planes with cargo in the hold. This was unable to compensate for the decrease in cargo in the hold of passenger aircraft over the entire month of March and the tonnage transported decreased by 16.8%, despite the upward trend in the number of cargo aircraft during the last week.
“We are seeing increases in the transport of certain items that are usually transported by sea, like surgical face masks, protective eyewear and disposable gloves. Those items are currently being sent as air freight too because of the faster delivery times.
Maaike van der Windt, Head of Aviation Marketing at Cargo and Customer Experience
Impact on all continents
There was a decrease by 51% to 0.8 million in the number of intercontinental passengers at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The decrease in passenger volume to South America was the least pronounced (-34%), while the most pronounced decrease occurred for Asia (-63.1%). Africa (-40%), the Middle East (-49%) and North America (-55%) also saw major drops in passenger volumes. Passenger volumes within Europe also fell by 58.4%, with Italy showing the largest drop (-84.3%). In total, there were destinations in 50 countries for which passenger volumes decreased by more than 50%. Destinations in 30 countries decreased by more than 25% but less than 50%, and the figures decreased even less or even rose slightly in only 11 countries.
Looking ahead to April
The corona virus has created an unprecedented situation worldwide, for the Netherlands and also for Schiphol. The drop in passenger numbers demonstrates that this situation is having a considerable impact. The number of remaining passengers dropped still further from -90% to -97% in the last two weeks of March. In the coming weeks, we expect that no more than 5% of the normal number of passengers will use the airport; we expect about 10% of the normal number of flights. Therefore, Schiphol has reduced operations and tailored them to the current demand. Schiphol’s reduced operations allow other services to remain predictable and reliable.
