Although Schiphol must cut back on the number of flights in the coming years, the airport still wants to continue to grow in air cargo. The airport's new plan targets an increase from 1.5 million tons to 2 million tons of air cargo by 2035. This is to be achieved through more efficient use of existing resources as well as through closer cooperation with Maastricht Aachen Airport (MAA).

A temporary drop in cargo volume, possibly to 1.4 million tons, is expected over the next three years, however. This is mainly due to the disappearance of so-called ad hoc slots, as a result of the limitation of the total number of flight movements at Schiphol from 500,000 to 478,000. Those ad hoc slots now account for a quarter of all cargo flights. Of the 16,000 cargo flights in 2024, 1,000 to 3,000 may be temporarily dropped, representing a loss of about 100,000 tons.

To offset that loss, Schiphol wants to move more cargo flights to Maastricht Aachen Airport. That airport currently has 4,000 available slots and is 40% owned by Schiphol. According to the airport, many cargo flights are suitable for relocation to MAA, despite restrictions on runway length and opening hours. Especially for perishable goods, MAA would be a good alternative.

Efficiency

In addition, there is much to be gained in the efficiency of the air cargo chain. Every year, for example, some 900 cargo flights leave Schiphol empty. By working better with airlines, Schiphol aims to reduce this waste. Also, large quantities of wooden pallets are still being transported, which the airport believes could be more sustainable.

Further efforts are being made to better utilize belly capacity in passenger aircraft, especially on intercontinental routes. Schiphol sees growth potential in this by using larger aircraft with more space for cargo.

A major bottleneck is the lack of insight into exactly what is being transported. Many airlines know exactly what less than 10% of the cargo they carry is. Together with the industry, Schiphol wants to work toward better insight into the weight, dimensions and arrival times of cargo. According to the airport, this is essential if the existing infrastructure is to allow it to continue to grow to 2 million tons of air cargo in 2035.