When planning a holiday, more Dutch residents are choosing to fly out of Germany and Belgium to avoid high ticket costs at airports in the Netherlands, travel organisations have revealed.
Dutch residents prefer cheaper flights from Germany and Belgium
With flights from Schiphol Airport and other Dutch airports becoming more expensive, holidaymakers from the Netherlands are looking for cheaper options. A family can save up to 600 euros by driving to an airport in a neighbouring country instead of flying from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, AD reported based on information from travel organisations Sunweb and TUI.
According to Sunweb, compared to last year there was a 20 percent increase in the number of people from the Netherlands booking flights from a cheaper airport in Germany or Belgium for upcoming holidays in May and in the summer. Only 6 percent of Sunweb flights booked for Dutch residents departed from foreign airports before the pandemic; this increased to around 25 percent in 2024.
TUI saw a similar trend, with over a third of Dutch travellers looking into flights from airports abroad due to more affordable prices.
Costs at Dutch airports on the rise
Rising flight taxes and parking costs are making flying from a Dutch airport more expensive. Flying from an airport in the Netherlands will now cost travellers almost 30 euros in flight tax - double the flight tax in Germany and 15 times more than in Belgium.
Schiphol Airport also raised its rates for 2025, increasing port charges for airlines by 41 percent, which most airlines passed on to consumers by raising ticket prices. “In Belgium, you can park for 1 euro per day. Add the flight tax and the additional costs and you can save 50 to 150 euros per person if you fly from a foreign airport,” commercial director of Sunweb Group, Tim van den Bergh told AD. “People are then prepared to drive further by car because the lower costs can make all the difference in being able to go to Greece or Spain for 10 days within a certain budget.”
As more and more Dutch travellers choose to travel via other countries, airports in Germany and Belgium continue to benefit. Located 90 minutes away from Utrecht by car, Weeze Airport in Germany saw 790.000 travellers from the Netherlands last year, making up 40 percent of its total passengers. To accommodate the growth, many German airports are adding new destinations and completing renovations.