Economy

Dutch airports handle 22.4 million passengers in third quarter

Passenger numbers at the five national airports rose 0.9% on a year earlier in July to September, even as commercial flights fell 1.8%, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports.

NLnow newsroom

11 Nov 2026, 06:50 1 min read

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Plane taking off above Schiphol's control tower — i
Illustrative photo: hpgruesen / Pixabay Content License

In the third quarter of 2026, 22.4 million passengers travelled to and from the five national airports, 0.9% more than a year earlier, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) says. Commercial flights, which carry passengers and freight for payment, fell 1.8% to 144.5 thousand.

Schiphol handled 19.4 million passengers (86.7%) and 125.9 thousand flights (87.1% of the total), 1.8% fewer than in the third quarter of 2025. Eindhoven Airport had 2.1 million passengers (9.3%); its flights fell 0.9% and made up 7.9% of all flights. The other three national airports together handled 903.5 thousand passengers.

Third-quarter passenger numbers edge up to 22.4 million

Million passengers · Q3 2024–Q3 2026

View data

Data: Third-quarter passenger numbers edge up to 22.4 million
Item	Million passengers
Q3 2024	21.6
Q3 2025	22.2
Q3 2026	22.4

Source: CBS | NLnow graphic

Three quarters stay in Europe

A total of 16.8 million passengers, three quarters of all, flew between the Netherlands and a European destination. Spain was the most popular with 3.2 million, followed by the United Kingdom with 2.2 million, of whom 388 thousand used London Heathrow. Barcelona El Prat (515.8 thousand) and Málaga Costa del Sol (458.2 thousand) were the most popular Spanish destinations; five Spanish airports are in the European top ten.

Of 5.6 million passengers to or from outside Europe, almost a third flew to or from the United States (1.7 million). Canada took 7.9% (441 thousand) and Morocco 5.8% (327 thousand).

Destinations differ by airport. At Schiphol, 71.9% of passengers stayed within Europe, 16.1% travelled to or from the Americas and 8.4% to or from Asia. At Groningen Airport Eelde the top destination was Greece. At Maastricht Aachen Airport most passengers flew to Poland, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro, new routes since April 2026 because of a new airline.

Source: CBS

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