Schiphol’s decision to ban private flights from the airport from autumn 2025 has left the private aviation sector raw on the roof. Industry organization EBAA, which was not informed in advance, wants a discussion with Schiphol.
EBAA director Robert Baltus thinks it is still too early to talk regarding going to court to get the ban off the table. “First a conversation,” he says. He describes the ban as ‘symbolic politics’.
Schiphol accounts for half of all private flights to and from the Netherlands. According to the EBAA, the European Business Aviation Association, Schiphol had 16,456 ‘private flights’ last year: take-offs and landings added up. Private flights include all flights that are not operated by airlines such as KLM, Transavia, easyJet and Lufthansa.
Flights in airplanes rented by companies and (wealthy) individuals for business trips or holiday trips are the most common form of ‘private flights’. Passengers’ final destination to Schiphol is often the Amsterdam Zuidas. Most private trips to London depart from Amsterdam. Costs? “It starts at 3,500 euros per hour,” says Baltus. The actual amount also depends on the size of the aircraft, the distance to be covered and the degree of luxury.
Flights of companies with their own aircraft also fall under private flights. Shell is one such company that owns a few jets. The transport of parts, for example for machines, also falls under it. Medical flights and flights for training purposes are also included in that number of 16,456.
Eleventh on the list
With those 16,456 flight movements, Schiphol was eleventh on the list of largest European processors of private flights last year. Le Bourget in Paris had the most, followed by Nice and Geneva airports. The main destination in Europe for private jets is London. There, the Cessnas, Embraers and Dassaults can go to several airports.
The private aviation sector came to a virtual standstill in March 2020, during the first lockdowns. But when travel restrictions were lifted, the industry quickly recovered. Some businessmen and wealthy individuals avoided regular planes because of the risk of corona. Later, the crowds at many airports played a role. There were more private flights in 2021 than in 2019; in 2022 there were 41 percent more private flight movements at Schiphol than in 2019.
That growth has now stopped, says Baltus, and interest in private flights is declining somewhat. “If things go badly with regular aviation, such as during corona, we are doing well. If regular aviation is doing well, we are not doing well.”
Private planes are also used for holiday trips. Schiphol estimates the share at 30 to 50 percent. The Amsterdam-Nice route or vice versa accounted for 494 flights. This makes Nice, following Paris and three London airports, the most common destination to or from Amsterdam. Cannes, Ibiza and Malaga are also often visited.
Specialized companies
The vast majority of private aircraft are rented out and managed by specialized companies. NetJets, owned by American multibillionaire Warren Buffett, is the largest in the Netherlands. The Belgian-Dutch ASL-JetNetherlands is number 2. Owners of private aircraft are obliged to have their jet managed by such a company. That takes care of the maintenance, the flights, the pilots and the other personnel. Many owners rent out their aircraft to keep costs down.
The question is where the jets should go if Schiphol refuses them. In The parole Schiphol director Ruud Sondag announced that there is no room for (more) private flights at Schiphol’s other airports. Rotterdam-The Hague Airport (last year: 7561 private flights) is owned by Schiphol, Eindhoven owns 51 percent, Maastricht/Aachen 40 percent.
According to Baltus, the advantages of the ban (less greenhouse gas emissions) are dwarfed by the disadvantages for the Netherlands and the Amsterdam Zuidas. According to him, the noise nuisance caused by private planes is ‘minimal’.
Private aircraft account for half a percent of the CO2 emissions of air traffic at Schiphol. But they emit much more CO2 per passenger than regular aircraft: according to a study by CE Delft, they are five to fourteen times more polluting per passenger.
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