Results
The benchmark report compares the price level of Schiphol to those of twelve competing airports in Europe and the Middle East. In 2020 the price levels of most airports increased. At Schiphol, the price level increased by 8.7 percent due to a relatively strong increase in its passenger and security charges as well as ATC charges. Schiphol nonetheless remains one of the cheaper airports in the benchmark. Only Dubai, Istanbul, Madrid and Copenhagen had a lower price level than Schiphol in 2020.

London Heathrow, Frankfurt, London Gatwick, Munich and Paris Charles de Gaulle remain the most expensive airports in the benchmark. This is mainly due to the high passenger taxes levied in the United Kingdom, Germany and France. Copenhagen remains the cheapest airport in the benchmark.

Schiphol differentiates its passenger charges relatively strong between O/D- and transfer passengers compared to the other airports. The way it differentiates its security charges between passenger segments is in line with the other airports.

Finally, the price levels were estimated per aircraft turnaround: the price of a single landing and subsequent take-off for a small, medium and large aircraft type. For small and medium aircraft types Schiphol ranks fifth lowest. For the large aircraft type only two airports are cheaper than Schiphol.

The study
SEO Amsterdam Economics benchmarks the price level of Schiphol to those of its main competitors since 2008. This update includes the following competitors: Brussels, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Copenhagen, Dusseldorf, Dubai, Frankfurt, Istanbul, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Madrid, Munich and Zurich. The comparison is carried out for the years 2013, 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Method
The price levels of the various airports in each year are determined by calculating their total yearly aeronautical revenues using a benchmark model. The aeronautical revenues consist of several components: airport charges (including landing charges, parking charges, passenger charges and other charges), emission charges, security charges and taxes, noise charges and taxes, ATC charges and passenger taxes.

To ensure a fair comparison between airports and over years, the calculation for all airports and years are based on the same traffic mix. The traffic mix used represents 97.9 percent of aircraft movements and 98.3 percent of passengers at Schiphol in 2019.