Maaike van der Windt admits the last two years have been challenging for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol due to slot restrictions, but a new decade will see a new approach for freighters.

As previously announced, total cargo volumes for the first half of 2019 were down 9.2% to 767,519 tonnes, mainly due to the full freighter sector. Cargo transported on freighters was down 16.4% and freighter air transport movements by 14.4%.

The director aviation marketing, cargo and customer experience tells Air Cargo Week that this decline is due to restricted slots.

She says: “This has led to the development of a new Cargo Approach for next year with the main goal of maintaining our existing cargo network to protect full freighters along with an increased focus on sustainability.”

The Dutch government is being lobbied to ensure freighters are protected at Schiphol. Van der Windt says: “Our main priority is to protect the full freighters at Schiphol and we are lobbying the Dutch government for an exception ‘freighter pool’ within the slot allocation by stressing the value of cargo to the economy of the Netherlands.”

While freighters have suffered, belly cargo has done better due to Schiphol’s extensive passenger network. She adds: “We are ensuring that the bellies are as full as possible, which is resulting in a more sustainable approach towards cargo.”

Collaboration is the way to solve problems, with van der Windt saying: “By working together and taking a proactive approach to a challenging situation we are looking forward to a positive new beginning at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and rolling out the new Cargo Strategy in 2020.”