The number of passengers passing though Dutch airports rose by 8.2% year-on-year to nearly 16.8 million in the first three months of 2018, the national statistics office CBS said on Monday.

The growth was almost entirely due to Schiphol and Eindhoven airports, the CBS said.

Amsterdam’s Schiphol handled 15.2 million passengers in the first quarter,  an 8.3% gain over the 2017 period.  More than 1.2 million passengers moved through Eindhoven airport in the quarter,  an 11.6% increase over the year-earlier period.

There was a 1.3% increase in air cargo to 442,000 tonnes in the first quarter.  The CBS attributed this entirely to Maastricht Aachen airport  where cargo shipments almost doubled to 30,000 tonnes.

Schiphol, which handles 93% of all air freight, recorded a 2% decline in the first three months of the year.

This weekend, thousands of people took part in demonstrations at six locations nationwide to protest about expansion in the aviation sector.

The demos were organised by Greenpeace and a new lobby group, Landelijk Bewonersberaad Luchtvaart (LBBL) which represents people who live near airports.