Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

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Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Luchthaven Schiphol

Image:Schiphol-plaza-ns.jpg

IATA: AMS – ICAO: EHAM
Summary
Airport type Public
Owner Schiphol Group
Serves Amsterdam, Netherlands
Elevation AMSL -11 ft / -3 m
Coordinates 52°18′29″N 004°45′51″E / 52.30806, 4.76417
Website www.schiphol.nl
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
Sources: Airport website[1] and AIP[2]
Image:Schiphol Madurodam.JPG
Miniature Schiphol in Madurodam

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (IATA: AMS, ICAO: EHAM) is the Netherlands' main airport, located 20 minutes (17.5 km or 10.8 miles) southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer. The airport's official English name, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, places the words in the Dutch sequence (Luchthaven Schiphol) instead of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport or Schiphol Airport Amsterdam. The airport also had the IATA code of SPL but this has fallen into disuse.

Schiphol is a European mainport, competing in passenger and cargo throughput with London Heathrow Airport in England, Frankfurt International Airport in Germany and Charles de Gaulle International Airport serving Paris, France. In 2006, Schiphol handled 46,065,719 passengers, ranking fourth in Europe behind London, Paris and Frankfurt.[3] Almost 35% of its passengers traveled on intercontinental flights.[citation needed] In the same year, Schiphol handled 1,566,828 tons of cargo, ranked third in Europe behind Paris and Frankfurt.[4]

Image:KLM Aircraft at Schiphol.jpg
KLM fleet at Schiphol

Schiphol has five main runways, plus one 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 fees, some low cost carriers decided to move 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. Parking fees at Schiphol Airport start at €5 a day.

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

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.[5]

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. The Rijksmuseum also operates a small dependance at the airport, offering a small overview of both classical and contemporary art.[6]

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 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

[edit] Railway

Main article: Schiphol railway station

The Nederlandse Spoorwegen, the largest Dutch train operator, has a major passenger train station directly underneath the passenger terminal complex.

[edit] History

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 derived from a former fortification named Fort Schiphol which was part of the Stelling van Amsterdam defence works.[7] 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.

[edit] Accidents

  • 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 realized 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 47 people were killed, including the plane's crew of three and a "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, only 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. There was a national outrage resulting in the resignation of Justice Minister Donner (CDA) and Mayor Hartog of Haarlemmermeer. Spatial Planning Minister Dekker (VVD) resigned as well, because she bears responsibility for the construction, safety and maintenance of state-owned buildings.

[edit] Terminals and destinations

Image:Schiphol.jpg
Inside the Terminal

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. The exception to this is the low-cost pier M: once you are airside (i.e. you passed security), you cannot go to any of the other halls or piers. 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.

[edit] Departure Hall 1

Image:SchipolA.jpg
Schiphol Airport's observation deck

[edit] Pier B

[edit] Pier C

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

[edit] Departure Hall 2

Image:Towers Schiphol small.jpg
Air Traffic Control Towers (ATCTs) at Schiphol Airport

[edit] Pier D

  • Aer Lingus (Belfast-International, Cork, Dublin)
  • Aeroflot (Moscow-Sheremetyevo)
  • Air Astana (Almaty)
  • Armavia (Yerevan)
  • bmi (Aberdeen, London-Heathrow)
  • bmibaby (Birmingham, Cardiff, East Midlands)
  • British Airways (London-Gatwick, London-Heathrow)
  • Bulgaria Air (Sofia)
  • Centralwings (Gdańsk, Kraków) [Starts April 1,2008]
  • Croatia Airlines (Zagreb)
  • Czech Airlines (Prague)
  • Cyprus Airways (Larnaca, Paphos)
  • FlyLal (Vilnius)
  • Jat Airways (Belgrade)
  • KLM (Non-Schengen leave from one half of D, Schengen leave from the other) Aberdeen, Athens, Bahrain, Barcelona, Berlin, 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-Imam Khomeini, Thessaloniki, Venice, Vienna, Warsaw, Zürich)
    • operated by KLM Cityhopper (Aberdeen, Bergen, Berlin-Tegel, Billund, Bremen, Bristol, Brussels, Cardiff, Cologne/Bonn, Durham Tees Valley, Düsseldorf, Edinburgh, Eindhoven, Frankfurt, Glasgow-International, Hamburg, Hanover, Humberside, Kristiansand, Leeds/Bradford, Linköping, London-City, Luxembourg, Manchester, Munich, Newcastle, Nice, Norwich, Nuremberg, Riga, Sandefjord, Stavanger, Trondheim, Zürich)
  • Malév Hungarian Airlines (Budapest)
  • Martinair (Shorthaul)
  • Rossiya (St. Petersburg)
  • Royal Air Maroc (Al Hoceima, Casablanca, Nador, Tangier)
  • SkyEurope (Prague, Vienna)
  • TAROM (Bucharest-Otopeni)
  • transavia.com (See Pier C)
  • Ukraine International Airlines (Kiev-Boryspil)

[edit] Pier E

  • Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong)
  • China Southern Airlines (Beijing, Guangzhou)
  • EVA Air (Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Taipei-Taiwan Taoyuan)
  • Japan Airlines (Tokyo-Narita)
  • KLM (Abu Dhabi, Abuja, Accra, Addis Ababa, Almaty, Aruba, Atlanta, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Beijing, Bonaire, Cairo, Cape Town, Chengdu, Chicago-O'Hare, Curacao, Dallas/Fort Worth [begins March 30], Damascus, Dammam, Dar es Salaam, Delhi, Doha, Dubai, Entebbe, Guayaquil, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Houston-Intercontinental, Hyderabad, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Kano, Karachi [resumes in 2009], Khartoum, Kilimanjaro, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait City, Lagos, Lima, Los Angeles, Manila, Mexico City, Montreal, Nairobi, New York-JFK, Newark [ends January 6], Osaka-Kansai, Panama City [begins March 30], Paramaribo/Zanderij, Saint Maarten, Quito, San Francisco, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai-Pudong, Singapore, Taipei-Taiwan Taoyuan, Tehran-Imam Khoemeini, Tel Aviv, Tokyo-Narita, Toronto-Pearson, Tripoli, Vancouver, Washington-Dulles)
  • Northwest Airlines (Boston, Detroit, Hartford, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Mumbai, Newark [begins January 6], Portland (OR) [begins March 29], Seattle/Tacoma)
  • Singapore Airlines (Singapore)

[edit] Departure Hall 3

[edit] Pier F

[edit] Pier G

[edit] Pier H

[edit] Pier M

[edit] Cargo airlines

[edit] References

  1. ^ Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (official site)
  2. ^ Netherlands AIP for EHAM — AMSTERDAM/Schiphol
  3. ^ Passenger Traffic 2006 FINAL. Airports Council International (2007-07-18).
  4. ^ Cargo Traffic 2006 FINAL. Airports Council International (2007-07-18).
  5. ^ Airport Star Ranking - 4 Star Airports. Skytrax (2007). Retrieved on 2007-03-30.
  6. ^ Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Schiphol
  7. ^ (Dutch) Stelling van Amsterdam - Fort van het Schiphol

[edit] External links

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Schiphol

ca:Schiphol cs:Schiphol da:Amsterdam Schiphol Airport de:Flughafen Schiphol el:Διεθνές Αεροδρόμιο Σχίπχολ es:Aeropuerto de Ámsterdam-Schiphol fr:Aéroport d'Amsterdam-Schiphol hu:Schiphol repülőtér id:Bandar Udara Internasional Schiphol it:Aeroporto di Amsterdam-Schiphol sw:Schiphol nl:Luchthaven Schiphol ja:スキポール空港 no:Schiphol lufthavn pl:Port lotniczy Amsterdam-Schiphol pt:Aeroporto Internacional de Amsterdão Schiphol ro:Aeroportul Amsterdam Schiphol ru:Амстердамский аэропорт Схипхол sk:Schiphol sr:Аеродром Схипхол fi:Schipholin lentoasema sv:Amsterdam-Schiphol flygplats vi:Sân bay Amsterdam Schiphol zh:史基普機場

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