Record Volumes Flown Through Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in 2016

Jan. 13, 2017
Europe’s third largest air cargo hub sees 2.5 percent year-on-year growth as it commits to new quality initiatives supporting the pharmaceutical, e-commerce and perishables markets.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Jan. 13 2017 --Amsterdam Airport Schiphol ended 2016 with a record total flown cargo throughput of 1.66 million tonnes, up 2.5 percent on 2015.

Europe’s third largest air cargo hub had a strong end to the year, with December figures up 10.4 percent on the same month in 2015 at 149,000 tonnes. Cargo throughput until November was up 1.8 percent year-on-year, with figures for January to November of 1.51 million tonnes.

“We have launched a number of initiatives to enhance the experience of our pharmaceutical, e-commerce, and perishables customers, and our continued commitment to quality is having positive results,” said Cargo Director Jonas van Stekelenburg.

“We had a strong start to 2016 due to several new carriers making use of Schiphol, and expansion by existing players, and there was an increase in traffic levels in the second half of the year resulting in a total tonnage that surpassed our expectations – an all-time record of 1.66 million tonnes of cargo.”

Asia remains Schiphol’s largest market, with Shanghai, China, the busiest destination, and new direct flights launched to Xi’an and Ningbo, both in China.

“The upswing in e-commerce shipments, both inbound and outbound, were a large contributor to the cargo volumes for this market,” said van Stekelenburg.

“As a large number of flights now transit Europe en route to China, we can attribute a proportion of the growth in our European figures to the developing Asian market.”

Fewer direct flights to Asia meant final figures for the region were down 5 percent inbound and 7 percent outbound to 290,313 tonnes and 290,560 tonnes respectively. Flights to Asia transiting European destinations including Baku, Azerbaijan, and Moscow, Russia, increased, however, resulting in a strong overall result for Asia cargo through the hub.

A proportion of Europe’s growth of 74 percent to 104,061 tonnes outbound, and 42 percent to 105,736 tonnes inbound was therefore down to cargo transiting to and from Asia.

Africa inbound volume grew 2 percent to 117,556 tonnes because of increased freighter capacity serving the perishables market. Outbound volumes to Africa were 11 percent down at 54,684 tonnes.

Middle East tonnage was up 5 percent to 94,607 tonnes, with outbound tonnage remaining at 120,111 tonnes.

Latin America inbound cargo was up 11 percent at 101,706 tonnes because of a boost in flower imports from Quito, Ecuador.  Outbound cargo saw a downtick of 12 percent at 75,125 tonnes, reflecting decreased capacity on routes to Miami, USA, and South America.

Exports from North America were down 1 percent to 157,621 tonnes year-on-year because of decrease in belly volume, whilst North America import volume was up 2 percent at 150,172 tonnes because of an increase in flights from the USA into Europe.

“The outlook for 2017 - as we see even more air traffic growth - is positive; we are very encouraged by last year’s results,” said van Stekelenburg.

“Close collaboration with our cargo community remains a strong focus for 2017. Together with the Community we will continue to pursue ambitions such as better digital information exchange and further quality improvements in the supply chain, particularly for pharma, e-commerce and perishables."

Schiphol has launched several initiatives aimed at supporting the growth of its e-commerce, pharmaceutical, and perishables customers.

The Pharma Gateway Amsterdam initiative, launched in 2016, continues to develop, with three more members certified with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Center of Excellence for Independent Validators in Pharmaceutical Logistics (CEIV Pharma).

A new e-commerce same-day delivery service, called 12send, went operational in December.

ABOUT SCHIPHOL CARGO
Schiphol Airport is the third largest air cargo hub in Europe, moving 1.66 million tonnes in 2016. Schiphol offers 525.000 m2 of cargo warehouses, of which 40 percent have direct airside access. This includes facilities for perishables and pharma/life science cargo in multiple controlled-temperature zones, featuring refrigerated/deep-freezer and heated storage/handling facilities. Over 150 logistic service providers are situated in the airport region, with over 50 percent of all American and Asian European Distribution Centres located in the Netherlands. Schiphol benefits from the close proximity to Ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam and the unparalleled European road feeder and distribution network. In March 2016, Schiphol and its cargo community launched the Pharma Gateway Amsterdam that offers a CEIV-certified, closed and transparent pharma airport process. To find out more visit schipholcargoworld.com

ABOUT SCHIPHOL GROUP
Schiphol Group is an enterprise that operates airports in the Netherlands, conducts international operations and participates in foreign airports. Operating Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is the Group's largest activity. Schiphol Group is the owner and operator of Rotterdam The Hague Airport and Lelystad Airport, and holds a majority share in Eindhoven Airport. Schiphol Group's mission is Connecting the Netherlands: permanently connecting the Netherlands to the rest of the world in order to contribute to economic welfare and social welfare in this country and elsewhere; Connecting to compete and to complete. Visit schiphol.nl for more information.