Occasional declines in passenger traffic in the Netherlands cannot always be attributed to international events. One example is the introduction in 2008 of the air travel tax (vliegtaks) in the Netherlands.
| Belgium | Germany | The Netherlands | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 19,154,636 | 7,5% | 154,145,981 | 5.6% | 48,582,547 | 4.6% |
| 2007 | 20,805,314 | 8.6% | 163,843,996 | 6.3% | 50,500,592 | 3.9% |
| 2008 | 21,981,645 | 5.7% | 166,095,390 | 1.4% | 50,418,517 | -0.2% |
| 2009 | 21,314,463 | -3.0% | 158,150,131 | -4.8% | 46,479,064 | -7.8% |
| 2010 | 22,690,502 | 6.5% | 166,130,833 | 5.0% | 48,616,387 | 4.6% |
| 2011 | 25,098,923 | 10.6% | 175,316,076 | 5.5% | 53,895,216 | 10.9% |
| 2012 | 25,913,625 | 3.2% | 178,591,103 | 1.9% | 55,680,131 | 3.3% |
| 2013 | 26,387,222 | 1.8% | 180,781,589 | 1.2% | 58,047,513 | 4.3% |
| Increase/2006-2013 period | 4.7% | 2.2% | 2.4% | |||
Table 4 shows a decrease, following the introduction of the air travel tax, in the number of passengers travelling to and from the Netherlands, which was 3% to 4.8% greater in the Netherlands than in neighbouring countries. The air travel tax resulted in the loss of 2,000 to 3,000 jobs in the first two links of the Dutch aviation chain (chiefly located at and around airports), as well as similar job losses further up the chain.
Conversely, foreign airports just across the border saw a sharp increase in the number of passengers and jobs. A study carried out by The Dutch Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (ANVR) and The Dutch Tourism and Conference Bureau (NBTC) suggests a turnover loss in the Netherlands of €1.2 billion in as short a period as the initial six months.
In 2010, after the air travel tax had been abolished, passenger volume recovered slightly, but this has not been the case with Groningen Airport Eelde and Maastricht Aachen Airport, which are still grappling with a steep decline.
| Rotterdam- The Hague Airport | Eindhoven Airport | Maastricht Aachen Airport | Groningen Airport Eelde | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 17.447 | 14.491 | 10.895 | 2.398 | 45.231 |
| 2009 | 15.397 | 13.432 | 7.159 | 1.876 | 37.864 |
| 2010 | 14.643 | 16.244 | 8.443 | 1.746 | 41.076 |
| 2011 | 14.948 | 19.680 | 5.770 | 1.687 | 42.085 |
| 2012 | 15.245 | 22.450 | 5.445 | 2.036 | 45.176 |
| 2013 | 18.659 | 24.593 | 6.340 | 1.635 | 51.227 |
At Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the air travel tax led in 2008 to the strongest decline in a decade in the number of job vacancies (see also Figure 11: Number of vacancies advertised per 100 jobs at Schiphol relative to the Netherlands. Source: Regioplan), and the Dutch aviation industry is suffering the effects to this day.