Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) — Flights, Punctuality & Cancellations in 2021
We continue the most detailed airport analysis with Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport (AMS). Schiphol Airport is one of the world’s biggest airports and the hub of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Therefore, we analyzed its performance in 2021: Flight rankings, punctuality reports, and cancellation rates. Moreover, we benchmarked the airport’s performance against regional averages. Here’s what’s contained in detail:
Performance Overview
Flight Volume Analysis
On-Time Performance
Cancellations
Pre-COVID Comparison
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport — Performance Overview
We start our analysis with the essential numbers regarding flight volume, pre-COVID comparison, punctuality, and cancellations. Then, however, we will provide more details about each of the figures in the sub-chapters below.
Flight Volume & Pre-COVID Comparison
From February to July 2021, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport operated 47,000 flights. On average, the airport handled 7,800 flights monthly. However, as we will see below, the volume distributes quite volatile across the months. Overall, compared to the same period in 2019, Schiphol Airport operated 40% of the flight volume.
On-Time Performance & Cancellations
From February to July, Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport achieved a solid departure on-time performance of 85.5%. Departure on-time performance counts all flights that depart at the airport +/-15 minutes to their scheduled departure time. At the same time, 1.6% of scheduled flights at Schiphol Airport were canceled.
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport – Flight Volume Analysis
Let’s take a deeper look at the flight volume at Amsterdam’s main airport from February to July 2021. From February to April, the airport did not see substantial development. On the contrary, the flight volume hovered around 6,000. Nevertheless, this was similar to many other major hubs (see Istanbul, for example). However, the volume increased sharply by more than 33% in June, almost reaching 10,000 monthly flights. On top of that, the airport added another 4,000 flights in July, reflecting a month-on-month growth rate of 43%
Detailed Data
In case you want to have a look at the detailed data, here we go:
| Month | No. Flights | vs. prev. Month |
|---|---|---|
| February | 5,021 | |
| March | 6,058 | 20.1%  |
| April | 6,096 | 0%  |
| May | 7,072 | 16.0% |
| June | 9,339 | 32.1% |
| July | 13,339 | 43.5% |
| Avg. ’21 | 7,830 |
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport – On-Time Performance
When looking at Schiphol’s on-time performance, we find a diverse picture. In March, April, and May, Amsterdam Airport delivered strong results above 90%. However, especially in February and July, the airport operated at a poor punctuality level. Nevertheless, Schiphol’s performance was similar to the EMEA average in all of the months.
Detailed Data
In case you want to have a look at the detailed data, here we go:
| Month | AMS | EMEA Average |
|---|---|---|
| February | 81.9% | 82.6% |
| March | 91.0% | 87.2% |
| April | 90.3% | 87.1% |
| May | 90.5% | 86.6% |
| June | 85.1% | 94.9% |
| July | 74.0% | 76.9% |
| Avg. ’21 | % | 85.9% |
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport – Cancellations
Despite a sub-optimal performance in February, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport delivered solid results in terms of flight cancellations. Moreover, in March, April, May, and July, Schiphol saw fewer than 1% cancellations. Overall, AMS’s cancellation performance was 0.2pp below the EMEA average.
Detailed Data
In case you want to have a look at the detailed data, here we go:
| Month | AMS | EMEA Average |
|---|---|---|
| February | 5.7% | 2.6% |
| March | 0.9% | 1.6% |
| April | 0.5% | 2.0% |
| May | 0.9% | 1.8% |
| June | 1.2% | 1.1% |
| July | 0.5% | 1.6% |
| Avg. ’21 | 1.6% | 1.8% |
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport – Pre-COVID Comparison
To provide more context, we put Schiphol’s flight figures in relation to pre-COVID volume. Therefore we benchmark 2021 data with 2019. Between February and July, Amsterdam Airport operated on average 11,200 fewer flights in 2021. However, here’s the important figure: AMS managed to reduce the gap to pre-COVID volume from 69% to 38% from February to July. As a result, in July, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport operated almost 63% of the traffic at the same time in 2019.
Detailed Data
In case you want to have look at the detailed data, here we go:
| Month | Flights 2021 | Flights 2019 | ’21 vs. ’19 (abs) | ’21 vs. ’19 (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | 5,021 | 16,933 | 11,912  | 29% |
| March | 6,058 | 19,489 | 13,431 | 31% |
| April | 6,096 | 20,223 | 14,127 | 30% |
| May | 7,072 | 21,291 | 14,219 | 33% |
| June | 9,339 | 20,558 | 11,219 | 45% |
| July | 13,399 | 21,495 | 8,096 | 62% |
| Average | 7,830 | 19,998 | 12,167 | 38% |
Used Data
The shown information is based on OAG data and internal data sources. Whenever stated, EMEA refers to airlines based in Europe, the Middle East, or Africa.
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