Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

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Schiphol Airport
Luchthaven Schiphol
IATA: AMS - ICAO: EHAM
Summary
Airport type Public
Operator Schiphol Group
Serves Amsterdam
Elevation AMSL -11 ft (-3 m)
Coordinates 52°18′31″N, 004°45′50″E
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
18R/36L 12,467 3,800 Asphalt
06/24 11,483 3,500 Asphalt
09/27 11,329 3,453 Asphalt
18L/36R 11,155 3,400 Asphalt
18C/36C 10,826 3,300 Asphalt
04/22 6,608 2,014 Asphalt

Schiphol (IATA: AMS, ICAO: EHAM) (municipality Haarlemmermeer) is the Netherlands' main airport. Located south-west of Amsterdam, Schiphol is a European mainport, competing in passenger and cargo throughput with Heathrow International Airport in London, UK, Frankfurt International Airport in Frankfurt am Main, Germany and Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Roissy, France.

In 2005, Schiphol ranked fourth in Europe in terms of passenger traffic with 44,163,098 passengers, behind London Heathrow (67,915,403), Paris Charles de Gaulle (53,798,308) and Frankfurt International Airport (52,219,412). Almost 35% of its passengers travelled on intercontinental flights. In the same year Schiphol ranked third in terms of cargo with 1450 tons, behind Paris and Frankfurt.

KLM fleet at Schiphol
KLM fleet at Schiphol

Schiphol has 5 main runways, plus 1 used mainly by general aviation aircraft. The "fifth runway" (really the sixth) was completed in 2003. Plans have already been made for a seventh runway.

The airport is built as one large terminal split into three large departure halls, the most recent having been completed in 1994, which converge again once airside. There are plans for further terminal expansion.

Because of the intense traffic and high landing and parking fees at Schiphol, some low cost carriers decided to moved their flights to smaller airports, such as Rotterdam and Eindhoven. However, especially with the low-cost H-pier becoming operational, many low cost carriers (like easyJet, SkyEurope, and bmibaby) continue to operate from Schiphol.

Schiphol is the home base of KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines), Martinair and Transavia, and a hub for United States based Northwest Airlines.

Schiphol has won more than 120 prizes over the years, in 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1990 and 2003 it was voted the best airport in the world. It was honoured with the title of "Best European Airport" during 15 consecutive years (1988-2003) and has won a lot more prizes, including "Best Business Travel Airport". This is not only because of its usually perfectly organized operations, but also because of its high number of international and intercontinental flights. In 2005 direct flights were operated to more than 260 destinations in 91 countries. It is currently given a rating of four stars by Skytrax's airport grading exercise along with five other airports.[1]

Schiphol has large shopping areas as a source of revenue and as an additional attractant to air-carrier passengers. Schiphol Plaza is the shopping centre before customs, hence not only for air travellers, but also for non travelling visitors. There is a regular-size supermarket, Food Village, that is open until midnight seven days a week.

Schiphol is the world's lowest major commercial airport. The Schiphol Air traffic control tower, with a height of 101 m, was the tallest in the world when constructed in 1991. Its base is actually 3 m below sea level.

Schiphol also has its own mortuary, where deceased people can be handled and kept before departure or after arrival. Since October 2006 people can also get married at Schiphol and go on honeymoon directly.

Contents

Main article: Schiphol railway station

Nederlandse Spoorwegen, the Dutch rail provider, operates a major passenger train station directly underneath the passenger terminal complex.

Schiphol started early last century (Sep 16, 1916) as a military airbase, consisting only of a few barracks and a mudpool serving as platform/runways. When civil aircraft started to make use of the field (Dec 17, 1920), it was often called Schiphol-les-bains. The Fokker aircraft manufacturer started a factory near Schiphol airport in 1951.

Schiphol's name is a toponym from an older version of Dutch and means "ship hell"[citation needed]. Before 1852, the Haarlemmermeer polder in which the airport lies was a large lake, in the shallow waters of which sudden violent storms could claim many ships. This indeed was the main reason for reclaiming it.

  • November 14, 1946 - A Douglas C-47 operated by KLM coming from London approached Schiphol during bad weather conditions. The first two attempts to land failed. During the third the pilot realised that the airplane wasn't lined up properly with the runway. A sharp left turn was made at low speed, causing the left wing to hit the ground. The airplane crashed and caught fire, killing all 26 people on board, including the plane's crew of five.
  • October 4, 1992 - El Al flight 1862, a Boeing 747 cargo airplane heading to Tel Aviv, suffered from physical engine separation of both right-wing engines (#3 and #4) just after taking off from Schiphol and crashed into an apartment building in the Bijlmer neighbourhood of Amsterdam while attempting to return to the airport. A total of 43 people were killed, including the plane's crew of three and an unidentified "nonrevenue passenger". Many more were injured.
  • April 4, 1994 - Flight KL433 to Cardiff, a Saab 340 operated by KLM Cityhopper, returned to Schiphol after setting the number two engine to flight idle because the crew mistakenly believed that the engine suffered from low oil pressure, this because of a faulty warning light. On final approach at a height of 90 feet, the captain decided to go-around and gave full throttle, however only on the number one engine leaving the other in flight idle. Because of this, the airplane rolled to the right, pitched up, stalled and hit the ground at 80 degrees bank. Of the twenty-four people on board, three were killed including the captain. Nine others were seriously injured.
  • October 27, 2005 - A fire broke out at the airport's detention center, killing 11 people and injuring 15. The complex was holding 350 people at the time of the incident. Results from the investigation almost one year later showed that fire safety precautions were not (or never) in force, despite previous fires at the "detention" center. There was a national outrage resulting in the resignation of Justice Minister Donner (CDA) and Mayor of Haarlemmermeer Hartog. Spatial Planning Minister Dekker (VVD) resigned as well, because she bears responsibility for the construction, safety and maintenance of state-owned buildings.

Schiphol is deploying a one terminal concept, where all facilities are located under one single roof. The areas though, are divided into three sections or halls: 1, 2 and 3. To all of these halls, piers or concourses are connected. However, it is possible, on both sides of security or customs, to walk from one pier to another, even if they are connected to different halls. When changing between Schengen and non-Schengen areas, there is immigration control.

Piers B and C are dedicated Schengen areas. Pier E, F and G are dedicated non-Schengen areas. Piers D and H/M are mixed piers, using the same gate positions for Schengen and non-Schengen flights.

Pier D has two floor levels. The lower floor is used for non-Schengen flights, the upper floor is used for Schengen flights. By using stairs, the same jetways are used to access the aircraft. Schengen gates are numbered D-59 and up, non-Schengen gates are numbered from D-1 to D-59.

Piers H and M, the low-cost pier, share the same construction. Here, the H-gates are non-Schengen gates, the M-gates are Schengen gates. Both areas are on the same level.

NOTE: The airlines and destinations listed are not definite; very few airlines have a daily pier; this is based on regularity.

Schiphol Airport's observation deck
Schiphol Airport's observation deck

  • Air France (Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Lyon, Paris-Charles De Gaulle)
  • KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (some Shorthaul mostly Schengen treaty destinations)
  • Meridiana (Florence, Turin)
  • transavia.com (Most flights departing from Pier D) Alicante, Antalya, Banjul, Barcelona, Berlin-Tegel, Bodrum, Copenhagen, Corfu, Dalaman, Djerba, Dubrovnik, Faro, Fuerteventura, Funcial, Glasgow-Prestwick, Heraklion, Izmir, Kefalonia, Kos, Kithira, La Palma, Las Palmas, Lesbos, Lisbon, Madrid, Malaga, Milan-Orio, Monastir, Nice, Ohrid, Pau-Pyrenées, Pisa, Prevesa, Reus, Tenerife, Treviso, Valencia, Zakinthos)
  • LOT Polish Airlines (Warsaw)
  • VLM Airlines (Groningen, London-City)

Air Traffic Control Towers (ATCTs) at Schiphol Airport
Air Traffic Control Towers (ATCTs) at Schiphol Airport

  • Aer Lingus (Cork, Dublin)
  • Aeroflot (Moscow-Sheremetyevo)
  • Armavia (Yerevan)
  • bmi (Aberdeen, London-Heathrow)
    • bmibaby (Birmingham, Cardiff, Nottingham)
  • British Airways (London-Gatwick, London-Heathrow)
  • Bulgaria Air (Sofia)
  • Croatia Airlines (Zagreb)
  • Czech Airlines (Prague)
  • Cyprus Airways (Larnaca, Paphos)
  • European Air Express (Münster/Osnabrück)
  • FlyLal (Palanga, Vilnius)
  • Jat Airways (Belgrade)
  • KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Non-Schengen leave from one half of D, Schengen leave from the other) Aberdeen, Athens, Bahrain, Barcelona, Birmingham, Bucharest-Otopeni, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Geneva, Helsinki, Istanbul-Atatürk, Kiev-Boryspil, Lisbon, London-Heathrow, Luxembourg, Madrid, Manchester, Milan-Linate, Milan-Malpensa, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, Munich, Nice, Oslo, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Prague, Rome-Fiumicino, Rotterdam, St. Petersburg, Sofia, Stockholm-Arlanda, Stuttgart, Tallinn, Tehran-Mehrabad, Thessaloniki, Venice, Vienna, Warsaw, Zürich)
    • KLM Cityhopper (Aberdeen, Bergen, Berlin-Tegel, Billund, Bremen, Bristol, Brussels, Cardiff, Cologne/Bonn, Durham Tees Valley, Düsseldorf, Edinburgh, Eindhoven, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Hamburg, Hanover, Humberside, Kristiansand, Leeds/Bradford, London-City, Luxembourg, Manchester, Munich, Newcastle, Nice, Norwich, Nuremberg, Stavanger, Trondheim, Zürich)
  • Malév Hungarian Airlines (Budapest)
  • Martinair (Shorthaul)
  • Rossiya Airlines (St. Petersburg)
  • Royal Air Maroc (Al Hoceima, Casablanca, Nador, Tangier)
  • SkyEurope (Bratislava, Budapest, Kraków, Prague)
  • TAROM (Bucharest-Otopeni)
  • transavia.com (See Pier C)
  • Ukraine International Airlines (Kiev-Boryspil)

  • Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong)
  • China Southern Airlines (Beijing, Guangzhou)
  • EVA Air (Bangkok, Taipei-Taiwan Taoyuan)
  • Japan Airlines (Tokyo-Narita)
  • KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Abu Dhabi, Abuja, Accra, Addis Ababa, Almaty, Aruba, Atlanta, Bangkok, Beijing, Bonaire, Cairo, Cape Town, Chengdu, Chicago-O'Hare, Curacao, Damascus, Dammam, Dar es Salaam, Delhi, Doha, Dubai, Guayaquil, Hong Kong, Houston-Intercontinental, Hyderabad, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Khartoum, Kilimanjaro, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait City, Lagos, Lima, Los Angeles, Manila, Mexico City, Montreal, Nairobi, New York-JFK, Newark, Osaka-Kansai, Paramaribo/Zanderij, Sint Maarten, Quito, San Francisco, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai-Pudong, Singapore, Taipei-Taiwan Taoyuan, Tel Aviv, Tokyo-Narita, Toronto-Pearson, Tripoli, Vancouver, Washington-Dulles)
  • Northwest Airlines (Boston, Detroit, Hartford [begins July 1, 2007], Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Mumbai, Seattle/Tacoma)
  • Singapore Airlines (Singapore)

  • easyJet (Belfast-International, Bristol, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London-Gatwick, London-Stansted, London-Luton, Milan-Malpensa)
  • Flybe (Exeter, Norwich, Southampton)
  • Jet2.com (Blackpool, Leeds/Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle)
  • Sky Airlines (Antalya)
  • Sterling Airlines (Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm-Arlanda [begins June 1, 2007])
  • Thomsonfly (Bournemouth, Coventry, Doncaster-Sheffield)

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