Amsterdam airport’s owner Royal Schiphol Group has appointed Pieter van Oord as its next chief executive officer after a year-long process to find a permanent leader for the Dutch hub.
Van Oord, who has managed a family-run international maritime contractor since 2008, will take over from June 1, 2024, Royal Schiphol said in a statement. His term will run through 2028, the statement said. Interim CEO Ruud Sondag will step down in March 2024.
Schiphol has been at the center of a controversial plan by the Netherlands to reduce capacity at the hub that came under fire from airlines and industry groups. That plan was abandoned after pressure from the US ,which threatened to retaliate over JetBlue Airways Corp.’s expulsion, and the European Union.
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Previous Schiphol CEO Dick Benschop resigned in Summer 2022 as the airport struggled to ramp back up from the Covid-19 pandemic. Passengers were hit by long lines as well as flight cancelations caused by staff shortages, and the airport was forced to implement capacity limits.
