Turning point for Schiphol in 2023
Quality improvements come at a cost
2023 marks a turning point for Schiphol's development. Passengers once again had a pleasant experience at the airport, working conditions for employees improved and Schiphol came up with initiatives in an 8-point plan to make the airport structurally quieter, cleaner and better. Schiphol closes the financial year 2023 with an underlying result of 101 million euros. Although the financial results improved, Schiphol’s financials remain under pressure because of significant cost increases and investments with the necessary quality improvements.
Schiphol invested a lot in creating higher wages and better working conditions in 2023. The number of security guards working at the airport increased significantly contributing to passengers travelling comfortably again. Investments in well-functioning lifting aids in the baggage areas will make the work of baggage handlers easier and Schiphol is also taking important steps to better protect employees against emissions from vehicles and aircraft. This is ongoing.
Schiphol connects the Netherlands to 305 direct destinations (-3,8% compared to 2022) of which 126 are intercontinental (-2,3% compared to 2022). Schiphol was the second best connected airport in 2023 based on the number of direct connections, according to the ACI Connectivity Report 2023. Schiphol is in 2023 the 4th best connected hub airport worldwide.
It is time to further invest in the quality at Schiphol. Recent investments really paid off. Both working at and travelling through Schiphol has considerably improved. And we are not done yet. We must continue to invest if we want to secure quality for airlines, passengers and employees. 2023 also marks our turning point in our concerns for our neighbours and the climate. More than ever we are motivated to contribute to these topics and we want to do so by achieving our 8-point plan. The need to reduce noise in the short term, for example by banning night flights, is essential. We continue our work to be an excellent airport for everyone at and around Schiphol.
Traffic
There were 441,969 air transport movements at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. This is an 11% increase compared to 2022. Cargo volumes at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol declined by 4% to 1.38 million tonnes. There were 15,969 cargo-only flights. This represents a 15% decline compared to 2022.
Air Transport Movements
| Amsterdam Airport Schiphol | Eindhoven Airport | Rotterdam The Hague Airport | Total |
2023 | 441,969 | 39,996 | 16,191 | 498,156 |
2022 | 397,646 | 38,143 | 15,772 | 451,561 |
2021 | 266,967 | 21,704 | 6,355 | 295,026 |
2020 | 227,304 | 18,882 | 5,314 | 251,500 |
2019 | 496,826 | 41,438 | 16,683 | 554,947 |
The total number of passengers at Royal Schiphol Group airports in the Netherlands increased by 16% to 70.9 million (2022: 60.8 million).
Passengers (in millions)
| Amsterdam Airport Schiphol | Eindhoven Airport | Rotterdam The Hague Airport | Total |
2023 | 61.9 | 6.8 | 2.2 | 70.9 |
2022 | 52.5 | 6.3 | 2.0 | 60.8 |
2021 | 25.5 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 28.9 |
2020 | 20.9 | 2.1 | 0.5 | 23.5 |
2019 | 71.7 | 6.7 | 2.1 | 80.5 |
Customer experience
The 2023 Net Promoter Score (NPS) clearly reflects the better experience of passengers travelling to and from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. The scores of the May and summer holiday 2023 are considerably higher than in the same period in 2022, when operational problems led to extremely low NPS scores. The annual moving average increased from 26 to 36.
Financials
The underlying net result for 2023 is a 101 million euros (2022: a loss of 28 million euros). However, the Business Area Aviation remains heavily loss-making and Schiphol Group proposes not to pay out any dividend to its shareholders over 2023. Revenue increased strongly by 24.2% to 1,852 million euros (2022: 1,491 million euros).
Underlying results
EUR million | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
Revenue | 1,852 | 1,491 | 816 |
Underlying EBITDA | 501 | 361 | - |
Underlying Operating Result | 157 | 30 | -299 |
Underlying result attributable to shareholders | 101 | -28 | -287 |
Underlying result | 110 | -19 | -288 |
Result attributable to shareholders | 13 | -86 | 105 |
Result for the year | 22 | -77 | 104 |
Outlook for 2024
In 2023, Schiphol Group has seen a further recovery in passenger numbers. Schiphol Group expects this recovery to continue in 2024 with a slight growth in the number of passengers and aircraft movements. The demand for air travel remains high for the time being despite the increasing price of tickets. In 2024, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol expects to accommodate between 460,000 - 483,000 aircraft movements and welcome 65-69 million passengers. In the longer term, the development of the number of flights is uncertain, due to the Dutch government's intention to reduce the number of aircraft movements. For this, a Balanced Approach procedure is followed, which is currently being reviewed by the European Commission.
From a financial perspective, Schiphol continues its efforts to improve its financial resilience. However, recent challenges (recovery of COVID-19 crisis), current economic factors (inflation) and future developments (necessary quality investments) are all of severe impact on the financial position and operational costs. Charging the true cost of airport operations to its users as well as collecting historical settlements via airport charges will be essential to continue Schiphol’s development. A quality airport comes at a cost.
The full (press) release with all figures can be downloaded on the right side of this page.
The full annual report 2023 is available on our site with all annual reports.