Air passengers in Europe increase by 20% – Schiphol tops 60 million travelers

Nearly a billion air passengers—973 million, to be precise—traveled in the EU last year. This figure marks a 19.3% increase compared to the previous year, with growth registered across all the bloc countries. 

EU’s statistics office, Eurostat, published EU air passenger traffic volumes for 2023. According to the report’s classification, passengers carried are passengers on a particular flight counted once only, excluding each stage of the flight and direct transit passengers. Overall, Malta recorded the steepest increase, by exactly a third.

In the days when flag carrier KLM welcomed with dissent the government’s plan to downsize operations at Schiphol airport, the data shows increasing traffic levels at all Dutch passenger terminals. 

Over 60 million air passengers at Schiphol

In 2023, the EU’s top five airports by passenger volumes—Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam Schiphol, Madrid Barajas, Frankfurt Main, and Barcelona El Prat—retained their leadership. All of them saw significant growth in passenger numbers compared to 2022, as shown in the bar chart below. Just out of the top five, Rome Fiumicino Airport saw the highest increase (38.2%).

Following the dips in 2020 and 2021, the passenger volume of the Dutch main flight terminal is rising again. Eurostat historical data shows that air passengers peaked in 2019, with over 71 million people traveling from Schiphol, after years of sustained growth. In 1993, the air terminal welcomed about 20.5 million passengers. 

In addition to general air passenger volumes, Eurostat also released an interactive map providing more detailed information about Europe’s main airports. 52% of passengers flew from and to Schiphol to extra-EU destinations. Most travelers landed from—or departed for—Barcelona El Prat. The connection to and from London Heathrow was the most intense, with 5424 flights in 2023–this means that, on average, nearly 15 flights connected the two airports daily. 

Air passengers are also increasing at the other Dutch airports

As shown in the first column chart, 10 million more passengers traveled through Dutch airports in 2023, signaling growth also at the other main Dutch air terminals. Eindhoven airport is the second busiest in the country, wherein in 2023, 6.8 million travelers transited, the highest number recorded in Eurostat’s database. This figure is slightly higher than in pre-COVID-19 levels. Most passengers traveled to and from Malaga’s Costa del Sol airport, while the most frequent connection was with the London Stansted Airport. As per Eurostat, 84.1% of passengers carried flew from and to EU destinations. 

Rotterdam The Hague airport also had a record-breaking passenger volume year in 2023, with over 2.2 million travelers carried to and from the South Holland air terminal. As in the case of Eindhoven airport, most passengers came and went to Malaga. The connection with London City Airport was the most frequent.

The number of passengers at Maastricht Aachen and Groningen Eelde airports also rose compared to 2022. Yet, both are still way below their pre-COVID-19 passenger levels. The detailed figures are in the line chart below. 

Curbing Schiphol air passengers and noise pollution

A forecast by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) suggested that global aviation emissions could triple by 2050. According to the European Commission, aviation was behind 4% of 2022 total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As a very high-energy-intensive sector, air transport is the second source of GHG outputs in transport after road transport. 

In the Netherlands, international aviation GHG emissions were 4.71% of the total in 2022, as reported by the European Environment Agency (EEA). Last week, the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Barry Madlener, announced a package of measures setting a yearly limit of 478,000 flights from Schiphol starting in 2025. Marking a 15% reduction, the target is less ambitious than the initially promised 20% cut in noise emissions. The final decision is pending the European Commission review. 

Residents are unhappy with the proposed measures, and KLM, too. KLM is Schiphol’s most active airline, which operated with subsidiary Cityhopper 229,000 flights in 2023. In a letter to Minister Madlener, airline CEO Marjan Rintel expressed her dissatisfaction with the cabinet plan. Her main criticism is the government’s miscalculations, which, according to Rintel, don’t include the fleet’s renewal with less noisy aircraft. The CEO also underlined the negative impact of the decision on the Netherlands' connectivity with the rest of the world.

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How does the EU plan to curb emissions? 

As part of the Green Deal, the European Commission introduced ReFuelEU, a law mandating an increase in the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs). According to this regulation, the share of SAFs used in EU airports must reach 70% by 2050. 

The non-profit organization Transport & Environment (T&E) notes that, given the expected increase in air traffic, the measure would considerably reduce aviation CO2 emissions, but 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide would still need to be removed. The organization advocates for cutting flights, pricing aviation, and stimulating hydrogen and electric flying to bring aviation emissions to zero. 

No ban on EU short-haul flights

According to T&E, reducing the number of flights would have the most impact in the short term. Specifically, action on short-haul flights—transits lasting less than three hours—could reduce aviation impact. For instance, imagine all the flights connecting Amsterdam and Paris or London. 

Yet, during the Europe Connect aviation event last April, Commission representatives criticized these bans, describing them as policies “prescribing human behavior.” Specifically, the director general of the department for mobility and transport, Magda Kopczynska, stated that the Commission would avoid EU-wide short-haul flights. As the new Commission is formed, Kopczynska will still be in charge of the department. 

The criticism was directed at France, which has restricted domestic short-haul flights since 2023, prohibiting flights where a rail alternative under 2.5 hours exists. Although clear numbers are not available, Euronews reported that overall emission levels from domestic aviation dropped by 3.4%. Similarly to France, Spain is also planning to ban domestic short-haul flights and replace them with trains.