Schiphol appointed Peter van Oord as CEO on Sunday. He succeeds Ruud Sondage, who has served as interim CEO since November last year.
Since 2008, Van Oord has managed Royal Van Oord, an international marine contractor. This company is known, for example, for dredging and laying cables for offshore wind farms. He is also a member of the supervisory board of De Hoge Veluwe National Park and chairman of Feijenoord Stadium.
Van Oord will start his new position at Schiphol on June 1, 2024. He has been appointed for a period of four years.
Current and interim CEO Sundag was appointed after Dick Benschop resigned last year over the chaos at Schiphol. Due to staff shortages, the airport often had to cancel flights and very long queues appeared.
Schiphol is “very happy” with Van Oord’s arrival
“We are very pleased to have Peter van Oord serve as CEO of Royal Schiphol Group. Peter’s experience and capabilities are impressive. He is a very experienced and internationally-minded CEO of a successful company,” Schiphol wrote on Sunday.
“Schiphol is a major hub for Dutch and international mobility,” Van Oord said in the statement. “I realize that this meaning must go hand in hand with other interests, both inside and outside the airport. I would like to contribute to the transformation of Schiphol and aviation, based on the responsibility I feel towards our society.”
KLM CEO Marjan Rintel described Peter van Oord as a shrewd businessman on Sunday. “He has a lot of management experience and is accustomed to working in a complex operational environment.”
Schiphol Airport was also in the news earlier this month, when it emerged that plans to downsize the airport would be postponed by a year. Outgoing Infrastructure Minister Mark Harpers was forced to withdraw part of his plan after pressure from the United States and Canada and a letter from the European Commission.
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