Traffic and transport figures for August 2018

In August of this year, 6.8 million travellers flew from, to or via Schiphol. Despite a 2.5% decrease in air transport movements, the number of passengers grew by 0.7% compared with August 2017. Average aircraft size increased from 169.7 to 173.2 seats. The average load factor (89.1%) was also slightly higher than in August of the previous year.

Compared to last year, the number of passengers departing from or arriving at Schiphol in August rose by 0.8%, while the number of transfer passengers grew by 0.5%.

Verkeer- en vervoerscijfers augustus 2018 ENG

Cargo

There were 12.6% fewer cargo flights in August than one year ago. This sharp decrease is the result of scarce slot capacity and a trend that started at the beginning of this year. Due to a much higher cargo volume (+7.1%) on board of passenger flights and an improved load factor for cargo flights (+6.3%), the total volume of transported cargo remained virtually the same (-0.1%) as in the same month last year.

Passenger destinations

With over 4.8 million passengers travelling within Europe, we have observed a slight decline in European transport (-1.7%) compared with August of last year. There was substantial growth on the route to Moscow (+25%) as well as a twofold increase in the number of passengers on flights to Gdańsk. August saw 10% fewer passengers travel to Turkey than the year before, with a drop in volume to Istanbul (-8%) and most seaside resorts. In Spain, Valencia experienced an increase in popularity (+41%), while demand for the classic holiday destination of Málaga decreased by 15%. Despite a 5% dip in the number of flights to the United Kingdom, the number of passengers travelling to UK destinations rose by nearly 1%.

In the month of August, 1.2% more aircraft flew to intercontinental destinations, with a total of 7.7% more passengers on board. New network destinations and higher load factors caused growth in traffic to India (including the new connection to Bangalore) and Brazil. Major intercontinental holiday destinations which saw gains in popularity include the Cape Verde islands (+24%) and Aruba (+7%).

Click here for the complete overview of traffic and transport figures for August 2018.