Amsterdam airport operator Schiphol Group expects a sharp decline in passenger and cargo traffic in 2009 mainly as a result of the global financial crisis, it said on Monday.
In 2008 47.4 million passengers flew through the airport, 0.8 percent fewer than the previous year. Air transport movements dropped 1.8 percent to 428,350 and cargo traffic also declined by 1.4 percent to a total of 1.59 million tonnes.
“Nobody knows how long and deep the current recession will be,” President Jos Nijhuis said in a statement, adding that the operator has had to reassess its strategy due to the worsening of the financial crisis at the end of 2008.
Schiphol also said that a new air passenger tax introduced on July 1 last year was contributing to the decline in passenger numbers.
Amsterdam’s Schiphol is Europe’s fifth-largest airport by passenger numbers and third-largest by freight volume.
