In the third quarter, most flights in commercial traffic usually take place, and most passengers are transported, because the summer holiday falls in that quarter. With 50 thousand flights and 7.6 million passengers transported, August was the busiest month of the year so far. The busiest days in the third quarter were Sunday, August 3 and Monday, August 4; on both days more than 262 thousand travelers flew to and from the Netherlands.
Three quarters of air passengers stayed within Europe. The most popular country of origin and destination in Europe was Spain with 3.2 million air passengers; the United Kingdom and Italy followed with 2.3 million and 1.4 million passengers. Outside Europe, most passengers traveled to or from the United States: 1.7 million.
From the Netherlands, most passengers flew to and from the Spanish airports El Prat near Barcelona and Málaga - Costa del Sol Airport in the third quarter. These favorite destinations are not the same at all five national airports.
From Amsterdam Schiphol, most air passengers (442 thousand) traveled to and from Barcelona/El Prat, followed by London Heathrow with 392 thousand travelers. From both Rotterdam The Hague Airport and Eindhoven Airport, most travelers went to and from Málaga - Costa del Sol Airport. At Maastricht Aachen Airport, most passengers flew to and from Alicante/El Altet Airport, and from Groningen Airport Eelde, Iraklion on Crete was the most common airport.
The amount of air freight decreased by 7.3 percent to 362 thousand tons compared to the third quarter of 2024. Most freight (97 percent) was handled via Schiphol: 351 thousand tons. This is 8.6 percent less than in the same quarter a year earlier. The remaining air freight transport went via Maastricht Aachen Airport. Compared to a year earlier, the amount of air freight at this airport increased from 5.7 to 10.3 thousand tons.
In the third quarter of 2025, 208 thousand tons of goods were transported by air between the Netherlands and Asia, nearly 58 percent of all air freight. Of the air freight transported to and from Asia, China and the United Arab Emirates accounted for more than half. Of the 94 thousand tons of air freight in America, 50 thousand tons went to and from the United States. In Europe, the Netherlands handled most freight with Turkey, 12.3 thousand tons, and within the European Union with Germany with 7.6 thousand tons.
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