Cargo Schiphol defies winter chaos: 8% growth in January

While passenger traffic suffered from extreme snowfall and an acute shortage of de-icing fluid in January 2026, the cargo sector remained remarkably steady on course. Despite the operational chaos in the first week of the year, total cargo volume at the airport grew by nearly 8%.
Figures for the first month of 2026 show a surprising picture. Where thousands of travelers were stranded and hundreds of flights were canceled due to the "winter paralysis," cargo volume grew 7.8% to a total of 112,500 tons. The number of full cargo flights (freighters) also increased by 1.4% to 1,265 movements.

Imports as driving force

The growth was almost entirely due to a strong increase in imports, which rose by a whopping 13.5% (over 65,000 tons). Exports remained virtually flat with a minuscule plus of 0.9%, partly due to faltering demand from North America.
Resilience despite swerve

The positive results are remarkable given that the cargo sector was hit hard by logistical problems in early January. A shortage of aircraft antifreeze and snow-covered runways forced many cargo planes to divert to airports such as Liege and Brussels during the first week of January.

Interest group Air Cargo Netherlands (ACN) initially feared a big dent in the monthly figures, but a strong recovery in the second half of January more than offset the earlier losses. The figures underline the resilience of the logistics chain at Schiphol, which was able to find its way up even under extreme weather conditions.