report
The relevance of leisure passengers at Schiphol
Results
Airlines have become more dependent on leisure passengers since the corona pandemic. Currently, 74% of all passengers at Schiphol Airport travel for leisure purposes (vacation or visiting friends and family). The remainder 26% travels with a business purpose. Schiphol’s importance to Dutch society is expressed in terms of welfare. Over half of the airport’s welfare is generated by leisure passengers. Per passenger movement, business travelers contribute more to Dutch welfare. Network carriers generate more welfare than point-to-point carriers (€2.5 and €1.8 billion per year +/- PM, respectively), but also require more flights to do so. Per flight, point-to-point airlines generate most welfare. By replacing flights with a small welfare contribution with (existing) rail connections, capacity can be freed up at Schiphol without significantly affecting welfare.
Background
In 2022, the Dutch government announced plans to reduce Schiphol’s capacity in order to reduce noise levels around the airport. In such a scenario, the remaining airport capacity is ideally used for flights that are important to Dutch society, i.e. that make a major contribution to Dutch welfare. These are flights that are relevant to Dutch consumers and businesses and at the same time have a relatively small impact on the climate and the environment. The ANVR asked Beelining to calculate the welfare contributions of various segments – taking into account the consequences of the corona pandemic – and on this basis advise on wise choices for the future.
Methodology
The welfare contribution of the various segments was quantified by examining the extent to which Dutch welfare would change if the segment in question were no longer accommodated at Schiphol. The welfare contributions were determined for the moment when passenger transport has fully recovered from the corona pandemic. That moment is not expected to occur before 2024. It is assumed that business demand will then still be 20% lower than before the pandemic. This capacity will be taken in by leisure passengers. It is also assumed that all airlines have retained their slots during the pandemic and will resume flight operations in 2024 as they did before the corona pandemic.
Colophon
Client: ANVR
Author(s): Rogier Lieshout
Type: Research report
Date: June 2023
Files
(report is in Dutch)
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