AMS: Quality over quantity and a focus on sustainability

The air cargo community has been watching Amsterdam Airport Schiphol closely in the past year as the Dutch government announced flight slot cuts, returned some slots and, following strong international pressure, left the slots alone — at least for now. [caption id="attachment_57132271" align="alignright" width="300"] A plane prepares for takeoff at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. (Courtesy/Roger Cremers)[/caption] The proposed cuts would have reduced AMS’ annual slots from 500,000 to 452,000 to reduce noise and environmental pollution. While the cuts have been postponed, they have not been nixed. Political parties in the Netherlands have been struggling since the country’s Nov. 22 election to form a new government, which will ultimately decide the issue. “There [has been] no government for the last six months,” Joost van Doesburg , head of cargo at Royal Schiphol Group , which operates AMS, told Air Cargo Next at the World Cargo Symposium last week in Hong Kong. “And the decision ... will not be taken this year and needs to be probably taken by a new cabinet — if there is a new cabinet.” AMS is currently operating 484,000 flights annually — 16,000 flights shy of its allowance, van Doesburg said. The unused flights are left over from airline operational changes such as AirBridgeCargo ceasing operations in 2022. “Maybe we need to reduce the number of flights, but it is very unclear,” van Doesburg said. “It’s also really possible that there will be no reduction in slots in the future.” Nevertheless, Van Doesburg believes other European countries will follow the Netherlands’ example and look to limit flights. AMS has “a head start in working on the solutions,” he said. The Dutch government in November 2023 postponed plans to initiate slot cuts next summer at the airport (AMS) after the European Commission stated that the slot cut decision was non-compliant with European regulations and after several airlines, along with IATA , sued the Dutch government . Van Doesburg stressed that AMS will defend its cargo interest, regardless of what comes down the pike from the government. AMS will reserve 2.5% of its slots for freighters to ensure it remains an air cargo hub for Europe, he said. Quality over quantity While most airports saw a double-digit percentage drop in cargo volumes in 2023, AMS saw just a 4% drop from the previous year, according to van Doesburg. AMS ranks 21st on the Air Cargo Next top 50 cargo airports list. Van Doesburg attributes this success to AMS’ efforts to be a leader in sustainability and service. Royal Schiphol Group has an eight-point plan to do this, which includes a ban on nighttime flights at AMS and a ban on all private jet operations at the airport. AMS aims to become carbon neutral by 2030. “So, in six years’ time, no CO2 anymore from ground equipment, no CO2 anymore from buildings, no CO2 anymore from all the airport-related activities,” van Doesburg said. Digitalization will help reduce the airport’s carbon footprint, as well. AMS is developing a truck slot-booking system for all five ground handling agencies at the airport, he said. AMS is also working with ground handler dnata to build a new warehouse that will include autonomous handling technology. “We can really create and be ourselves responsible for the digital revolution within the air cargo industry,” van Doesburg said. “We just finished a process in the last 11 months of renewing all the IT systems. ... This is a system that is of course interlinking the airlines with the freight forwarders, with the handlers, but also interlinking the community with customs agents to have the best customs solutions.” In implementing all these changes, AMS is focusing on quality over quantity , van Doesburg said. Changes at MST Royal Schiphol Group acquired a 40% stake in Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST) in June 2023. MST is the second largest cargo airport in the Netherlands. “So, Schiphol came in and invested ... so, we have 70 million euros [$76.1 million] to upgrade the whole airport,” Jonas van Stekelenburg , chief executive at MST, told Air Cargo Next at the World Cargo Symposium. In addition to upgrading the airport’s infrastructure, including a runway extension project that cost $32.6 million, MST and Royal Schiphol Group are upgrading the airport’s technology, van Stekelenburg said. Royal Schiphol Group said last summer that MST would be a “testing ground for sustainability solutions.” MST this month attained Airport Carbon Accreditation Level 3 from Airports Council International (ACI). “At Level 3, airports need to expand the scope of their carbon footprint assessment to include various Scope 3 emissions and present evidence of engaging with third-party operators to reduce these emissions,” ACI stated in a release. “This builds on the continued efforts to reduce emissions under the airport’s direct control, which is the key requirement of Level 2: reduction.” MST aims to have net-zero operations by 2030, according to van Stekelenburg. “We’ve replaced lots of cars and lots of ground support equipment into electric transport equipment,” he said. “Last but not least, we’re trying to implement sustainable aviation fuels.” MST is also renovating its warehouse operations by adding docking stations, renovating workspaces, increasing sustainability and adding insulation, van Stekelenburg said. Editor’s note: All amounts have been converted to U.S. dollars. Register here for Air Cargo Next ’s free webinar, “The Role of Drones in the Future of Air Cargo,” on Tuesday, March 26, at 11 a.m. ET.

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