Amsterdam Schipol Airport Guide
Schiphol International Airport is situated about 14km (9 miles) from Amsterdam’s city centre and has the official airport code of AMS. It is classed as the main transportation hub in the Netherlands and connects to other important European airports. Almost 50 million passengers pass through Schiphol Airport each year. Approximately 100 different airlines operate from the airport and flights depart to and arrive from more than 200 cities in the world. It is the home base of the Royal Dutch Airlines, KLM.
Schiphol Airport comprises of one Main Terminal building, which has three levels and three large departure halls. There is the possibility of a new, separate terminal building to be added between the Zwanenburgbaan and Polderbaan runways. The airport features five main runways. The newest and ‘fifth runway’ is called the Polderbaan and was completed in 2003. There are actually six runways if the smaller one, mainly used for general aviation aircraft, is counted.
Some of the low-cost airline carriers recently decided to move their flights to smaller airports due to the intense traffic and high landing fees of Schiphol Airport. Schiphol Airport has now dedicated the H-pier to the low-cost airlines that remain in operation, such as Easyjet, Sky Europe and Bmibaby.
When Schiphol Airport’s air traffic control tower was built in 1991, it was the tallest in the world, featuring a height of 101 meters or 330 feet. Another interesting feature is that the entire airport is below sea level! Geographically speaking, Schiphol is the world’s lowest major commercial airport. Over recent years, expansion at Schiphol Airport has included the construction of the new ‘fifth runway’ and the renovation of Departure Lounge 1.
The new runway was named ‘Polderbaan’ and is now Schiphol’s longest runway. It is specifically designed to be able to handle super jumbo aircraft such as the A380. It is 3,800m in length and 75m wide. Construction began in September 2000 and was operational by the end of February 2003. The new runway was constructed by Vermeer Infrastructure, Ballast Nedam Grond en Wegen and Heijmans Infrastructure en Mileu.
The runway is specifically designed to eliminate noise disturbances in the surrounding airport area. As Polderbaan is only used into and from the north, noise levels have been reduced, as flights now mainly pass over areas with a low population density. The runway is effective for use in any weather condition.
The renovations of Departure Lounge 1 were completed in 2005. The number of arrival/departure gates was increased to a total of 112, enabling Schiphol Airport to efficiently handle 60 million passengers per annum. The new departure lounge also included many other amenities. The elements of ‘Run, Fun and Surprise’ were incorporated for the general improvement of the airport. ‘Run’ refers to shopping essentials, and ‘Fun’ provided café and restaurant entertainment. ‘Surprise’ was for other things such as Schiphol Airport’s casino.
Schiphol Airport has introduced some very innovative programs to assist frequent flyers and improve the airport’s efficiency, such as the automatic border passage system which features iris recognition. This system was developed by Schiphol Group together with the Dutch Border Police (Koninklijke Marechaussee) and the IND. The program was thoroughly tested for reliability and exceeded all eye safety standards. It is now a permanent feature of Schiphol Airport and frequent passengers are able to become members of the Privium Program to make use of the automatic border passage system. These passengers will be those that carry passports from countries in the European Economic Area (EEC), Schengen countries, as well as the countries of Norway, Liechtenstein and Iceland.
Schiphol Airport was originally used as a military airbase, opening on 16 September 1916. Long ago, before 1852, the area where the airport is now situated, was a large lake. It was called the Haarlemmermeer polder and here many ships were lost due to sudden violent storms. The name ‘Schiphol’ means ‘Ship Hole’ in English, which is a tribute to the many ships lost in the area.
Amongst the various airlines that serve Schiphol Airport are the U.S. Airlines – Delta, Northwest, United and U.S. Airways. International flights available are Austrian Airlines, Korean Air, Ethiopian Airlines and Croetia Airlines.
Schiphol Airport is included in the only four airports of the world to be rated with four stars in Skytrax’s grading system.
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