Editing Transport in the Netherlands (section)

==Air travel==
{{See also|List of airports in the Netherlands|List of airlines of the Netherlands}}
[[File:Cirrus SR20 Private, AMS Amsterdam (Schiphol), Netherlands PP1151308482.jpg|thumb|300px|Partial aerial view of Schiphol airport]]
Air travel in the Netherlands peaked at a Dutch record number of over 81 million passengers in 2019.<ref name=CBS012020>Over 81 million passengers at Dutch airports in 2019. CBS ([[Statistics Netherlands|Dutch Statistics Bureau]]), 30 January 2020.</ref>

[[Amsterdam Schiphol Airport]], located {{convert|9|km|mi|abbr=on}} southwest of Amsterdam, is the main [[international airport]] in the Netherlands, and the [[List of the busiest airports in Europe|third busiest airport in Europe]] in terms of passengers. Offering direct flights to 326 destination airports around the planet, Schiphol is the world's second best connected airport. The airport handled 63.6 million passengers in 2016, a growth of 9.1% over 2015, peaking at 71.7 million passengers in 2019.<ref name="NOS Schiphol64"/><ref name=CBS012020/> Airfreight tonnage increased by 1.8% to 1.7 million metric tons.<ref name="NOS Schiphol64"/>

Opened in 1916 as a military airbase, Schiphol saw 479,000 flights in 2016, and practically hit its environmentally mandated maximum of 500,000 yearly flight operations the year prior, recording 499,000 [[Takeoff and landing|take-offs and landings]] in 2018.<ref name=CBS012020/> This makes Schiphol one of the world's busiest airports, ''on average'' handling 57 starts and landings per hour on one of its six runways, and thus frequently exceeding levels of over one aircraft movement per minute.

Schiphol is the primary hub for Dutch [[flag carrier]] airline [[KLM]] and its regional affiliate [[KLM Cityhopper]], as well as for other Dutch airlines [[Corendon Dutch Airlines]], [[Martinair]], [[Transavia]] and [[TUI Airlines Netherlands]].{{#tag:ref|formerly ''Arkefly'' and shortened to ''Arke'' in the corporate design to match the travel agency)<ref>[http://worldairlinenews.com/2013/10/22/arkefly-shortens-its-name-to-just-arke/ Arklefly shortens its name to just Arke] Drum, Bruce, World Airlines News. 22 October 2013, retrieved 3 November 2013</ref>|group="nb"}} The airport also serves as a European hub for [[Delta Air Lines]],<ref name="Delta">{{cite web|url=http://news.delta.com/corporate-stats-and-facts|title=Corporate Stats and Facts|work=Delta News Hub}}</ref> and as a base for [[EasyJet]] and [[Vueling]] airlines.

In other regions there are much smaller international airports, the most prominent being [[Eindhoven Airport]], [[Rotterdam The Hague Airport]], [[Maastricht Aachen Airport]] and [[Groningen Airport Eelde|Groningen Airport]]. The airports of Eindhoven and Rotterdam/The Hague are both part of the [[Schiphol Group]], and both experienced growth in 2016. Eindhoven Airport grew by 9.3% to 4.7 million passengers, whereas Rotterdam/The Hague Airport's growth was a modest 0.2%, reaching 1.6 million travellers in 2016.<ref name="NOS Schiphol64"/> At the Maastricht Aachen, and Groningen airports, a considerable share of flights is seasonal in nature. For transport within the country, air travel is hardly used.

The airports of the Netherlands handled 71 million air passengers in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Netherlands |first=Statistics |date=2024-02-06 |title=71 million air passengers in 2023, but not a record high |url=https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2024/06/71-million-air-passengers-in-2023-but-not-a-record-high |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Statistics Netherlands |language=en-GB}}</ref> In the previous years Dutch airports handled 61 million air passengers in 2022,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Netherlands |first=Statistics |date=2023-02-03 |title=61 million air passengers in 2022, quarter fewer than before pandemic |url=https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2023/05/61-million-air-passengers-in-2022-quarter-fewer-than-before-pandemic |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Statistics Netherlands |language=en-GB}}</ref> 29 million in 2021,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Netherlands |first=Statistics |date=2022-02-04 |title=Almost 25 percent more air passengers in 2021 |url=https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2022/05/almost-25-percent-more-air-passengers-in-2021 |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Statistics Netherlands |language=en-GB}}</ref> and 23.6 million in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Netherlands |first=Statistics |date=2021-02-01 |title=Nearly 71 percent less air passenger traffic in 2020 |url=https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2021/05/nearly-71-percent-less-air-passenger-traffic-in-2020 |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=Statistics Netherlands |language=en-GB}}</ref>

In 2015 Dutch airports handled passengers at a ratio of 47 million on European flights versus 18 million on intercontinental flights,<ref name="CBS Luchtvaart">{{cite web |url=http://statline.cbs.nl/Statweb/publication/?DM=SLNL&PA=37478hvv&D1=11,14,17,20-25,31,35&D2=0&D3=256,273,290&HDR=G1,T&STB=G2&VW=T |title=CBS StatLine - Luchtvaart; maandcijfers Nederlandse luchthavens |language=nl |trans-title=Dutch Statistics Bureau - Dutch airports monthly data |date=2013–2015 |website=Statline.cbs.nl |publisher=CBS - Statistics Netherlands |access-date=10 January 2017}}</ref> and in 2013 a slightly less 1.6 million metric tons of airfreight.<ref name="CBS Luchtvracht">{{cite web |url=http://www.cbs.nl/nl-NL/menu/themas/verkeer-vervoer/cijfers/goederenvervoer-zee/luchtvaart-sl.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140718011046/http://www.cbs.nl/nl-NL/menu/themas/verkeer-vervoer/cijfers/goederenvervoer-zee/luchtvaart-sl.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 July 2014 |title=CBS StatLine - Luchtvaart; maandcijfers Nederlandse luchthavens |language=nl |trans-title=Dutch Statistics Bureau - Dutch airports monthly data |date=2013 |website=Statline.cbs.nl |publisher=CBS - Statistics Netherlands |access-date=15 July 2014 }}</ref>