'Air freight at Schiphol is under pressure'

Logistics industry organizations are sounding the alarm: Schiphol's position as a freight hub is under pressure. They urge the new cabinet to make air freight a strategic pillar for the Dutch business climate. The global container prices, meanwhile, have been falling for the fourth week in a row. The new coalition agreement states that the size of Schiphol will be limited to 478,000 flight movements and that a night closure will be introduced. Lelystad Airport will become, (after obtaining an environmental permit), in addition to a military base for Defense, also a place for 'wholesale traffic', initially with 10,000 flight movements. The Knowledge Institute for Mobility Policy (KiM) concluded in a report for the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management in 2024 that the transshipment of air freight at Dutch airports is limited in weight, but in value comparable to the total value of goods transported via inland navigation. Air freight transportation will grow worldwide over the next 20 years. If part of the demand cannot be facilitated at Schiphol, that part will disappear elsewhere, the report states. Schiphol is by far the most important airport for air freight in the Netherlands. Air Cargo Netherlands (ACN), DEA, FENEX, and evofenedex urge the new cabinet to make air freight a strategic pillar for the Dutch business climate and to protect slots for freight flights in the (re)allocation of slots at Schiphol, 'so that they are not further displaced by passenger flights'. They also want organizations to recognize that capacity at night and at the edges of the night is essential for air freight. Furthermore, they want Maastricht Aachen Airport to be strategically deployed as a complementary freight airport. This week, industry organization IATA released the figures for global air freight traffic in 2025. Over the entire year, demand, measured in freight ton-kilometers, increased by 3.4% compared to 2024. Capacity increased by 3.7%. Container prices continue to fall The World Container Index from Drewry has fallen for the fourth consecutive time. This week, there is a decrease in spot rates of 7%. The prices for container transport from Shanghai to Rotterdam are dropping the hardest, by 9%. Exporting from the Netherlands to China is 2% more expensive. Transporting goods in containers from New York to Rotterdam is 4% cheaper than last week. From China to Los Angeles and New York, rates are also declining, by 8% and 5%, respectively. The decline from Shanghai to the main American destinations indicates, according to Drewry, 'a significant shift in the market'. The traditional rush for the Chinese New Year is absent this year. Shipping companies are responding by canceling sailings. For the next three weeks, there are 18, 27, and 28 canceled sailings for the route Asia - America. A significantly higher number of cancellations than in previous years, according to the maritime data platform. A further decline in rates is expected as a result, according to Drewry. On the routes between Asia and Europe, rates have been falling for four weeks. A total of 9, 16, and 9 sailings have been canceled in the upcoming three weeks. Drewry also expects prices on this route to decline further. Spot prices within Asia have also decreased, as shown by the Intra-Asia Container Index from Drewry. In the first week of February, this was 4%. Year-on-year, the index, a weighted average of spot prices on eighteen trade routes within Asia, is 14% lower. Here too, Drewry expects further declines.