AMSTERDAM AIRPORT SCHIPHOL handled 1.6 million tonnes in 2014, up by 6.7 per cent, with North America growing most strongly.

North American trade increased by 14 per cent over 2013, Europe rose by 12.5 per cent, followed by the Middle East at 6.1 per cent. Trade with Asia rose by 5.4 per cent and Africa was up by 4.1 per cent. Latin American cargo was down by two per cent compared to 2013. This comes in spite of cargo volumes dropping by 0.7 per cent in December to 133,886, compared to the same month of 2013. Schiphol cargo senior vice president, Enno Osinga, says it experienced an early peak, particularly in October and November, which is why December was down. “In 2014 there was a very large volume of Playstations and X-Boxes that needed to reach the shops before Christmas.” Asia represented 38.8 per cent of traffic in 2014, slightly down on 2013, North America increased a small amount to 17.8 per cent.