Royal Schiphol Group, the operator of Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, has named maritime contracting figure Pieter van Oord as its new chief executive.
Van Oord will take up the post in June next year.
Current interim chief Ruud Sondag will step down in March, and the company will be managed over the subsequent three months by chief financial officer Robert Carsouw.
Van Oord manages the marine contracting specialist Royal van Oord, whose activities include infrastructure, coastal protection, dredging, and renewable energy through offshore wind.
His involvement in sustainability was a particular factor in his selection by Royal Schiphol Group, which has been involved this year in legal wrangles over environmental measures to reduce noise pollution at Amsterdam.
These measures included attempts to slash capacity and ban night flights at the Dutch hub, leading to conflict with IATA which has also complained about charging levels.
Royal Schiphol Group was heavily criticised last year for post-pandemic operational disruption, an issue which led its then-chief Dick Benschop to resign in September 2022.
According to the company’s supervisory board, Van Oord has “extensive managerial experience in a complex, operational sector”.
This experience extends to logistics and asset management which, the board says, are areas in which Schiphol will face “significant challenges” over the next few years.
