For decades, the Benelux has been a main hub for air transport, which resulted in a strong market position when it comes to passenger and freight transport. This is partly due to its geographical advantage, but infrastructure and high quality services contributed to this status as well. When looking at the air freight transport from both KLM and Luxair, the Dutch Royal Airline saw its annual weight of cargo decrease slightly to approximately 620,000 tons, whereas Luxair had an increase in freight to 940,000 tons in 2017. In the Netherlands, one of the main airport is Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Owned by Royal Schiphol Group, it is the largest airport in terms of passenger numbers and one of the world's most important transport points in Europe. Schiphol saw their passenger numbers reach 63.5 million in 2017. However, this is more than the airports capacity could handle. It not only led to financial damages and logistical issues, but Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM), who are prominently presented at Schiphol, suffered from it as well. However, KLM's annual revenue increased, although slightly, from 9.8 to 10.34 billion euros in 2017.
In Belgium, Brussels airport saw their passenger numbers increase year-on-year, even though the airport dealt with a terrorist attack in 2016. If in 2013 there were roughly 19 million passengers utilizing Brussels airport, in 2016 the number rose to approximately 22 million. However, cargo flights at Brussels airport decreased significantly, although it saw a little increase recently. In 2017, 14,800 cargo flights were registered, but roughly 10,000 more cargo flights were seen in 2007.
Looking at Luxembourg airport, it saw its
People travel more, flying longer distances. However, in 2016, long-haul outbound holidays by plane of tourists from the Netherlands decreased slightly from 6.2 to 5.97 million euros, whilst car holidays decreased within the same time period. Such numbers demand for new innovations, developments, something Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is currently struggling with. The number of runway incursions was never as high as in 2016, with a total of 47.
The growing demand for flights, safety and crowd control management are subjects which became of crucial importance for the civil aviation industry. Furthermore, the rise of low cost airlines such as Easyjet, Ryanair or Wizair made its contribution to the growing demand by providing cheap flights. Therefore, the aviation market became even more competitive.
