Amsterdam Schiphol Airport has announced it will be raising operational fees for airlines by 37% over the next 3 years. However, due to an imminent need of funds to support its investment plans, the charges will be raised by 41% in 2025, 5% in 2026, then lowered by 7.5% in 2027.
As a result, airlines will pay Schiphol an average of 15 euros more for a local departing passenger in 2027 compared to 2024. To mitigate the impact of these regulated charges on airlines, the airport said it has reduced the potential charges by making a €100 million voluntary contribution to keep the charges as low as possible without compromising its ability to operate the airport.
The airport said it needs to invest 6 million euros over the next 5 years in “good infrastructure, better services for passengers and airlines and improved working conditions”. Besides funding its improvement, the higher fees were also brough on by “exceptionally high inflation and sharply increased interest rates over the past three years”. They are also meant to compensate for losses during the pandemic.
“This sharp increase in charges is necessary to invest in the desired quality and sustainability at Schiphol, to improve services to airlines and passengers, and to provide decent working conditions for all people working at Schiphol”, explained Robert Carsouw, CFO Royal Schiphol Group.
Moreover, Schiphol said it is using these charges to encourage airlines to use their quietest planes. The charges for quieter aircraft are going to be less expensive, while older, noisier planes are going to cost airlines more. There is a category of aircraft that make so much noise that they will even be completely banned from next year. Night flights will also be subjected to additional charges.
“By making it significantly more expensive or even impossible to fly with noisier aircraft and to fly at night, we are contributing to the reduction of nuisance to our neighbours”, Carsouw added.
In practice, the charges consist of fixed fees per passenger, along with a fee linked to aircraft type. Airlines already have to pay more for noisier aircraft, but the airport “is sharply tightening it for the next three years to make sure that it better reflects the impact of aircraft on the surrounding area”.
The difference in costs between flying during the day or at night will also increase. Night flights will become approximately 3 to 6 times more expensive than a daytime flight, depending on the aircraft type. With these new charges, Schiphol hopes to strongly incentivise the deployment of a quieter and cleaner fleet.
While agreeing that improvements are “urgently needed” at Schiphol, KLM has condemned the fee hike as “unreasonable and unwise”, arguing the Dutch travel hub will become the second most expensive airport in Europe and will lose its competitive position compared to other European hubs like Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) and Copenhagen (CPH) that will remain much cheaper.
Moreover, with the costs ultimately passed down to passengers, the carrier has warned that higher ticket prices for travellers are inevitable. “Schiphol shifts additional costs of setbacks and budget overruns largely to the traveller. More expensive tickets are inevitable if you increase airport charges so drastically”, KLM CEO Marjan Rintel said in a statement. “This poses risks for the hub function, the connectivity of the Netherlands, and our economy.”
