The number of travellers passing through Dutch national airports reached a record high of 54 million in 2011, according to the latest figures by Statistics Netherlands.

The number of passengers declined sharply in 2008 and 2009 due to the global economic crisis and made a modest recovery in 2010, but last year's growth of 11 percent boosted numbers beyond pre-crisis levels to an all time high.

The vast majority of air passengers - 92 percent - travelled through Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, which was also recently voted Europe's best airport.

However, Eindhoven Airport's share of passengers has grown considerably in recent years. While the number of passengers at Schiphol grew 17 percent in the period from 2004 to 2011, from 42,4 to 49,7 million, the number of passengers at Eindhoven Airport nearly quadrupled over the same period, from 700.000 to 2,7 million.

The increase in air passengers is in sharp contrast with the very minor growth of air freight. Air cargo dropped dramatically from 2008 to 2009 but nearly recovered to pre-crisis levels in 2010. Last year air freight grew less than 1 percent from 2010 to 1,59 million tons of goods, which is still 2 percent less than 2008 levels.