Pieter van Oord

Royal Schiphol Group, which owns and operates Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, has appointed Pieter van Oord as CEO, a role with a four-year tenure that he will commence on 1 June 2024.

Van Oord has managed international maritime contractor Royal Van Oord since 2008 and will succeed Ruud Sondag, Schiphol’s interim CEO since 1 November 2022.

Sondag will stay on until 1 March 2024, while CFO Robert Carsouw will take on the additional role of interim CEO between 1 March and 1 June.

The supervisory board of the group, which also operates Rotterdam The Hague Airport and Lelystad Airport, selected van Oord because of his “extensive managerial experience in a complex, operational sector”.

The board, in a statement, added that van Oord’s vision on making the aviation sector more sustainable “weighed heavily” on their decision. 

Board chairman Jaap Winter said: “[Van Oord] is a highly experienced and internationally-oriented CEO of a successful company. He has extensive experience in the field of logistics operations and asset management, two areas in which there will be significant challenges for Schiphol in the coming years. 

“For Pieter, sustainability is a key issue. This is in line with Schiphol’s ambitions to accelerate sustainability and reduce its environmental and climate impact,” he said.

Commenting on his new appointment, van Oord said: “Schiphol is a major hub for Dutch and international mobility. I realise that this significance must go hand in hand with other interests, both within and outside the airport. I am happy to contribute to the transition of Schiphol and aviation, based on a responsibility I feel towards our society.”

The Amsterdam hub has been under fire in recent months following the Dutch government’s controversial plans to limit flight capacity in order to reduce noise pollution. The plan had been due to take effect in 2024 but was recently suspended following mounting pressure from the US and EU.