Half as many passengers in March at Schiphol Airport

As of mid-March this year, no passenger flights to the Netherlands are allowed from China, Hong Kong, Iran, South Korea and other countries. Furthermore, the Netherlands introduced travel restrictions and restrictions on admission of travellers diagnosed with coronavirus.

As a result, the second half of March saw a much steeper year-on-year drop in the number of passengers and flights than the first half. For example, passenger traffic to and from Schiphol airport was down by 26 percent in the first half of March 2020 relative to the same month in 2019. In the second half, there were 83 percent fewer passengers year-on-year. The number of flights dropped by 5.4 and over 66 percent respectively.

Mainly fewer passengers to and from Asia

In February 2020, a decline was already seen in passenger traffic to and from Asia, particularly China and Hong Kong. This decline continued in March. The number of passengers flying to and from China dropped by almost 90 percent that month relative to March 2019. Passenger traffic between Hong Kong and Amsterdam also declined further, by 42 percent in February and nearly 83 percent in March.

The suspension of all air traffic between Europe and the United States as of 12 March is also reflected in passenger numbers. These were 56 percent down in March relative to the same month last year.