Official statistics from the Netherlands indicated that in 2007, close to 51 million passengers travelled through Dutch airports, a 4 per cent increase relative to 2006 while the volume of cargo increased by 5.5 per cent, according to the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS).
Of the passengers, 70 per cent travelled within Europe (nearly 60 per cent travelled within the EU); most of them – more than 8 million – travelled to and from the United Kingdom. With 5 million passengers, Spain was the second most travelled to country. The total volume of cargo transported to and from Dutch airports increased by 5.5 per cent in 2007 to 1.5 million tonnes with the vast majority of air cargo coming from or destined for airports outside the EU.
Traditionally, the United States was the most important air cargo partner of the Netherlands, but last year the US was ousted by China for the first time. In 2007, the Netherlands carried 300,000 tonnes of goods to and from China, compared to 290,000 tonnes to and from the US.