Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) has handled 25.5 million travellers in 2021, marking a 22% surge compared to 20.9 million passengers a year ago.
Compared to 2020, Royal Schiphol Group airports witnessed a rise in traveller numbers in 2021, although the figures were still less than pre-pandemic levels.
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The number of passengers at Eindhoven Airport (EIN) increased 28% from 2.1 to 2.7 million over the period while Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM) reported 48% growth in the figure from 0.5 to 0.8 million.
Schiphol recorded a total of 266,967 air transport movements in 2021, up 17% from 227,304 in 2020.
Air transport movements made a higher recovery than passenger traffic as airlines strived to maintain their networks as much as possible.
However, the figure was 46% lower compared to 496,826 in 2019.
Through AMS, the Netherlands was directly linked with 296 destinations, 118 of which were intercontinental.
In 2020, the airport’s network included 316 destinations.
Some of the places that were excluded from the network last year include Windhoek, Namibia, Portland, US, Mombasa, Kenya, and Havana, Cuba.
The airport managed 1.66 million tonnes of cargo in 2021, a 15% rise versus 1.44 million tonnes in 2020.
In a statement, AMS said: “Recovery was minimal during the first half of the year, with 86,037 air transport movements and around 5.6 million travellers. Recovery started to pick up during the summer months.
“The second half of the year saw a total of 180,932 air transport movements and 19.9 million travellers. The degree of recovery is in line with the prognosis previously issued by Schiphol at the presentation of the interim results.”
The airport noted that the provided traffic and transport figures of Royal Schiphol Group are preliminary and the definitive figures will be published in the financial statements next month.
In October 2021, AMS announced plans for a 37% cumulative increase in airport charges.
