Over 21 million air passengers in Q2 2026, but fewer flights
- The number of air passengers passing through the Netherlands’ five major airports in Q2 of 2026 rose by 2 percent, year on year.
- As a result of the war in the Middle East, 11 percent fewer flights were operated and 43 percent fewer air passengers travelled to and from five countries in this region.
- Air freight volumes were up by just over 15 percent compared with a year earlier.
A total of 21.2 million air passengers passed through the Netherlands’ five major airports in the second quarter of 2026. This was 2.3 percent more than in Q2 of 2025. The number of commercial flights (passengers and the volume of air freight carried) fell by 1.5 percent to nearly 139.6 thousand. The volume of air freight increased by 15.4 percent. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of newly released figures.
| Q1 (x million) | Q2 (x million) | Q3 (x million) | Q4 (x million) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 16.3 | 20.1 | 21.6 | 18.3 |
| 2025 | 16.6 | 20.7 | 22.2 | 18.9 |
| 2026 | 16.2 | 21.2 |
The average passenger seat occupancy rate on flights to and from the five major airports in Q2 was 83.4 percent. This means that 83 out of 100 seats were occupied, on average. In Q2 2025, this share was 80.3 percent. On cargo flights to and from the Netherlands, an average of 53.2 thousand tonnes of goods were carried per cargo flight, compared with 50.3 thousand tonnes in Q2 2025.
Schiphol handles highest number of flights and passengers to and from the Netherlands
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol accounted for 87.1 percent of both the total number of flights and 86.5 percent of the total number of passengers carried to and from the Netherlands in Q2 2026. Although there were 1.7 percent fewer flights to and from Schiphol than a year earlier, the number of passengers rose by 2.1 percent to 18.3 million. Rotterdam The Hague Airport recorded the strongest growth in passenger numbers (+6.5 percent to 721.2 thousand). Maastricht Aachen Airport saw the largest increase in the number of flights (+13.8 percent to 1.4 thousand).Fewer flights to the Middle East
As a result of the war in the Middle East, there were fewer flights to certain countries in this region, particularly in March, with the exception of Jordan. In April and May, there were also fewer flights to and from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, compared with the same months in 2025. In June, air traffic picked up again slightly: the number of flights to and from Israel in particular increased, twice as many as in June 2025. In total, the number of flights to and from the five countries combined in the second quarter was 10.8 percent lower than in Q2 2025.
| Israel (year-on-year % change) | Jordan (year-on-year % change) | Qatar (year-on-year % change) | Saudi Arabia (year-on-year % change) | United Arab Emirates (year-on-year % change) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.9 | -23.0 | -13.5 | -2.5 | -8.5 |
| February | 33.3 | -22.2 | -12.7 | 8.3 | -3.8 |
| March | -84.9 | 33.3 | -79.6 | -22.9 | -62.8 |
| April | -40.7 | 64.8 | -7.0 | -4.3 | -29.2 |
| May | 1.7 | 50.0 | -3.3 | -24.5 | -26.8 |
| June | 105.6 | 7.8 | 8.8 | -17.8 | -27.2 |
The total number of air passengers travelling to and from the five Middle Eastern countries combined was 290.8 thousand in the second quarter. That was 43.1 percent less than in 2025, when the number was 511.1 thousand. In June, the number of passengers travelling to and from Israel was 66.3 percent higher, year on year.
More air freight carried
A total of 409.2 thousand tonnes of air freight were carried to and from the Netherlands. This was an increase of 15.4 percent compared with Q2 of 2025. Of that total, 395.2 thousand tonnes were transported through Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. That was an increase of 15.0 percent compared to Q2 2025, but still represents 96.6 percent of all air freight handled in the Netherlands. Maastricht Aachen Airport (the only other airport in the Netherlands that handles air freight) also saw an increase: 14.0 thousand tonnes, a quarter more than in the second quarter of 2025.Schiphol remains the EU’s second busiest airport in 2025
Not only is Schiphol the most important airport in the Netherlands, it is also one of the busiest in the European Union. In 2025, Schiphol had the second highest number of passengers in the European Union, at 68.8 million. Only Charles de Gaulle in Paris handled more passengers: 72.0 million.
| 2025 (x million passengers) | 2024 (x million passengers) | 2023 (x million passengers) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paris, Charles de Gaulle | 72.0 | 70.3 | 67.4 |
| Amsterdam, Schiphol Airport | 68.8 | 66.8 | 61.9 |
| Madrid, Barajas | 68.0 | 66.1 | 60.1 |
| Frankfurt am Main | 63.1 | 61.5 | 59.3 |
| Barcelona, El Prat | 57.4 | 54.9 | 49.8 |
| Rome, Fiumicino | 50.9 | 48.7 | 40.3 |
| Munich, Franz Josef Strauss | 43.4 | 41.5 | 37.0 |
| Dublin, Dublin | 36.4 | 34.6 | 33.2 |
| Lisbon, Humberto Delgado | 36.1 | 41.0 | 33.6 |
| Palma de Mallorca | 33.8 | 33.3 | 31.1 |
| Source: CBS, Eurostat | |||
Among the top ten busiest airports in the EU-27, Dublin Airport in Ireland saw the strongest growth at 5.2 percent, while Humberto Delgado Airport in Lisbon recorded the largest decline in passenger numbers (-12.0 percent). Outside the EU, but still within Europe, Istanbul Havalimani Airport in Türkiye (Turkey) was the busiest airport, with 84.5 million passengers in 2025.