The CBS has released statistics showing that this summer was the busiest ever experienced by Dutch airports. Over 23 million passengers entered and left the country between June and September. That’s an increase of one percent since last year, RTL Nieuws reports.
Schiphol did not experience much growth at all
If you’ve ever been in Schiphol and experienced the crowds there, you might be surprised to hear that the Amsterdam airport was the only one where the number of passengers stayed pretty much the same: there was an increase of only 0.2 percent. But that is because Schiphol is already at capacity: 500,000 flight movements is the maximum the airport can support, and those are already taking place. But it makes sense that the airport feels crowded: 20 million people passed through this summer.
Smaller airports grew a lot
For the airport serving Rotterdam and The Hague, the increase in passengers was enormous- it went up by a full 10 percent. Other smaller airports in the Netherlands, like Eindhoven and Maastricht, also experienced a lot of growth this summer, with the number of passengers going up by eight percent in Eindhoven (it’s not that we’re scientists, but we’re pretty sure Ryanair’s budget flights from Eindhoven are to blame for all that growth).
All these extra passengers are bad news for the planet
It’s bad news for the environment, of course: with more people flying, even more CO2 is emitted. But the Netherlands is trying to build better international train infrastructure- like special international trains to Rotterdam for the Eurovision in May, or overnight trains to Munich and Vienna. So, in coming years, the number of people flying in and out of the Netherlands will hopefully decrease.
Did you notice that the airports were more crowded than usual this year? Let us know in the comments below.
Feature image: Abuzer van Leeuwen/Supplied.