The chief executive of Schiphol Airport, Jos Nijhuis, will resign at the beginning of 2018 after nine years in charge.

His departure was announced in a press release on Friday and he will depart before the end of his current contract.

He said in the release that there are ‘many reasons’ for someone else to take the airport forward: ‘There is agreement for a new government, which will give a clear direction about Schiphol’s future. There will be space for growth, in balance with the environment. It would be good if this were taken up by a new chief executive.’

The Volkskrant reported that he had been under pressure for some time and come in for ‘heavy criticism’ over prioritising holiday flights over network connections to America and Asia.

On Thursday it was revealed that the future impact of Schiphol’s growth would be reassessed after the government admitted it had been using flawed noise calculations.