The profit motive is no longer the driving force behind Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport and a stock exchange launch would be pointless, Jos Nijhuis, the new CEO of the airport, says in an interview with Tuesday’s Volkskrant.

‘Making as much profit as possible is not my priority,’ Nijhuis, who took over in January tells the paper. ‘Schiphol’s role in the Netherlands is much more important than that.’
Privatisation or a stock exchange launch would not serve Schiphol’s function in society, he said. ‘I just don’t believe in [a flotation]. Schiphol’s role is best served with government as the most important shareholder. I understand the growing resistance to the sale of energy firms to foreign companies very well,’ he was quoted as saying.
Nijhuis’s predecessor Gerlach Cerfontaine, who headed Schiphol for 10 years, was a keen supporter of privatisation.
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Schiphol’s position as a leading airport has been eroded by high charges in recent years and Nijhuis is cutting fees to win back market share. The losses on Schiphol’s flying activities will be compensated for by the ‘good results’ the airport books on its property and retail activities, he said.
Cerfontaine had also been keen to expand the Schiphol model abroad and the airport has several foreign interests.
While Schiphol’s airport in Brisbane, Australia, is ‘doing fantastically’, ‘this sort of buy no longer fits in with our revised strategy’, Nijhuis said. ‘Our interests in New York and Paris do, because they form a strategic triangle with Schiphol.’
Schiphol saw net profits fall 40% to €187m last year and the group is forecasting passenger numbers will decline by up to 10% this year. The government is scrapping the flight tax introduced in July 2008 because of its effect on the airport’s popularity.