Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

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Amsterdam Schiphol Airport Luchthaven Schiphol
Schiphol's entrance
A map showing the six runways of Schiphol
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°N 4.76417°E / 52.30806; 4.76417Coordinates: 52°18′29″N 004°45′51″E / 52.30806°N 4.76417°E / 52.30806; 4.76417
Website		www.schiphol.nl (Dutch) www.schiphol.com (English)
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	m	ft
18R/36L	3,800	12,467	Asphalt
06/24	3,500	11,483	Asphalt
09/27	3,453	11,329	Asphalt
18L/36R	3,400	11,155	Asphalt
18C/36C	3,300	10,826	Asphalt
04/22	2,014	6,608	Asphalt
Sources: Airport website[1] and AIP[2]

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (IATA: AMS, ICAO: EHAM) is the Netherlands' main airport, located 20 minutes (4.9 NM (9.1 km; 5.6 mi)^[2]) southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer. The airport's official English name, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, places the words in the Dutch order (Luchthaven Schiphol) instead of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The airport used to have the IATA code of SPL, which has fallen into disuse and has been replaced by AMS.

Contents 1 Description 2 History 2.1 Accidents 3 Layout 4 Infrastructure 5 Transport 5.1 Rail 5.2 Bus 6 Airlines and Destinations 6.1 Departure Hall 1 6.1.1 Pier B 6.1.2 Pier C 6.2 Departure Hall 2 6.2.1 Pier D 6.2.2 Pier E 6.3 Departure Hall 3 6.3.1 Transavia.com destinations 6.3.2 Pier F 6.3.3 Pier G 6.3.4 Pier H 6.3.5 Pier M 6.4 Cargo airlines 6.5 Government 6.6 Other 7 Airport Schiphol in popular culture 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Description

Schiphol is an important European airport, ranking as Europe’s 3rd largest and the world’s 14th largest for cargo tonnage. It also ranks as the world’s 3rd largest by international passenger traffic as well as Europe’s 5th and the world’s 14th busiest by overall passenger volume. Additionally, Schiphol ranks as Europe’s 5th and the world’s 16th busiest airport by number of flights. Schiphol's main competitors as in passenger and cargo throughput with London Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom, Frankfurt Airport in Germany, Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport in France and Madrid Barajas Airport in Spain. In 2007, Schiphol handled 47,793,602 passengers, ranking fifth in Europe behind London, Paris, Frankfurt and Madrid. There are 188 loading slots in the whole airport.^[3] About 68% of the passenger flights were to Europe, almost 21% of its passengers travelled on intercontinental flights and 11% to Asia; cargo was mainly headed to Asia (44%) and North America (20%).^[4] In the same year, Schiphol handled 1,566,828 tons of cargo, ranked third in Europe behind Paris and Frankfurt.^[5] In 2005 direct flights were operated to more than 260 destinations in 91 countries. The airport is one out of four airports in the world to have a rating of four stars in Skytrax's grading system.^[6]

Schiphol has five main runways, plus one used mainly by general aviation aircraft. The latest of these, the Polderbaan (nicknamed the "fifth runway", although it is the sixth if the small runway is included) was completed in 2003. Plans have been made for a seventh runway.

The airport is built as one large terminal, split into three large departure halls, which converge again once airside. The most recent of these was completed in 1994, and expanded in 2007 with a new part, named Terminal 4, although this part is not recognised as a separate building. Plans for further terminal expansion exist, including the construction of a separate new terminal between the Zwanenburgbaan and Polderbaan runways that would end the one-terminal concept.

Because of intense traffic and high landing fees, some low cost carriers decided to move their flights to smaller airports, such as Rotterdam and Eindhoven. Many low cost carriers (like easyJet, SkyEurope, and Bmibaby) continue to operate from Schiphol, using the low-cost H-pier.

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

The Schiphol Air traffic control tower, with a height of 101 metres (330 ft), was the tallest in the world when constructed in 1991. Schiphol is geographically the world's lowest major commercial airport. The entire airport is below sea level; the lowest point sits at 11 feet (3.4 m) below sea level (or 4.5 feet (1.4 m) below the Dutch Normaal Amsterdams Peil (NAP)); the runways are around 3 metres (9.8 ft) below NAP.^[7][8]

[edit] History

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Schiphol opened on 16 September 1916 as a military airbase, consisting of a few barracks and a field serving as both platform and runways. When civil aircraft started to make use of the field (17 December 1920), it was often called Schiphol-les-bains. The Fokker aircraft manufacturer started a factory near Schiphol airport in 1951.^{[citation needed]}

Schiphol's name is derived from a former fortification named Fort Schiphol which was part of the Stelling van Amsterdam defence works.^[9] 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 was the main reason for reclaiming it. In English, Schiphol translates to 'Ship Hole', a reference to the number of ships lost in the area.

[edit] Accidents

• 14 November 1946 - A Douglas C-47 operated by KLM from London approached Schiphol during bad weather conditions. The first two attempts to land failed. During the third attempt, 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.
• 4 October 1992 - El Al Flight 1862, a Boeing 747 cargo airplane heading to Tel Aviv, suffered 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 "non revenue passenger". Several others were injured.
• 4 April 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 because of a faulty warning light. On final approach at a height of 90 feet (27 m), the captain decided to go-around and gave full throttle on only the number one engine leaving the other in flight idle. 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.
• 27 October 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 in force. A national outrage resulted in the resignation of Justice Minister Donner (CDA) and Mayor Hartog of Haarlemmermeer. Spatial Planning Minister Dekker (VVD) resigned as well, because she bore responsibility for the construction, safety, and maintenance of state-owned buildings.
• 25 February 2009 - Turkish Airlines Flight 1951, a Boeing 737-800 from Istanbul crashed on approach to the airport's Polderbaan, just 1km short of the runway. The plane carried 128 passengers and 7 crew on board. 9 people were killed and a further 86 were injured, including six with serious injuries. An initial report from the Dutch Safety Board revealed that the left radio altimeter had failed to provide the correct height above the ground and suddenly reported -8 feet. As a cause of this the autothrottle system closed the thrust levers to idle, as it is programmed to reduce thrust when below 27 feet radio altitude. This eventually resulted in a dropping airspeed which was not acted upon until it was too late to recover and the aircraft stalled and crashed in a field.

[edit] Layout

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Schiphol uses a one terminal concept, where all facilities are located under a single roof, fanning off the central 'plaza'. 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 airside (i.e. past security), passengers cannot go to any of the other halls or piers. Immigration control separates Schengen from non-Schengen areas.

• Piers B and C are dedicated Schengen areas. Piers 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-60 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] Infrastructure

Schiphol has large shopping areas as a source of revenue and as an additional attraction for passengers. Schiphol Plaza is the shopping centre before customs, hence it is used by air travelers and non-traveling visitors.

The Rijksmuseum operates an annex at the airport, offering a small overview of both classical and contemporary art.^[10]

Schiphol has its own mortuary, where the dead can be handled and kept before departure or after arrival. Since October 2006, people can also get married at Schiphol and go straight on honeymoon.^[11]

For aviation enthusiasts, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol has a large rooftop viewing area, called the Panoramaterras. It is not accessible to connecting passengers. Enthusiasts and the public can enter, free of charge, from the airport's landside. Besides the Panoramaterras, Schiphol has other spotting sites, especially along the newest Polderbaan runway and at the McDonald's restaurant at the north side of the airport.

The wayfinding signage at Schiphol was designed in 1991 by Paul Mijksenaar.^[12]

[edit] Transport

[edit] Rail

The Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), the national Dutch train operator, has a major passenger train station directly underneath the passenger terminal complex and offers the most convenient and cheap transportation into Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague or other cities. Besides intercity connections to Amsterdam Centraal, Utrecht, both The Hague Centraal and The Hague HS, Rotterdam and Eindhoven, this station is a stop for the international high-speed train Thalys, connecting the airport with a direct train connection to Antwerp, Brussels and Paris. Deutsche Bahn operates an InterCity train service from Schiphol airport to Berlin six times a day, running more or less every two hours. It runs via Amsterdam Zuid, Amersfoort, Bad Bentheim, Osnabrück and Hannover, taking about 6.5 hours from Schiphol to Berlin.

[edit] Bus

Buses serving Schiphol include the no. 300 "Zuidtangent" (South Tangent), which as its name implies describes a gentle curve linking Haarlem to the west and the Bijlmer to the north, mostly using a dedicated busway. A busway alongside the A4 motorway allows services from Amsterdam, for instance Connexxion routes to Alphen aan den Rijn, also to avoid traffic jams.

[edit] Airlines and Destinations

[edit] Departure Hall 1

[edit] Pier B

Schengen destinations

Airlines	Destinations
Air Arabia Maroc	Casablanca [begins 3 August]
Alitalia	Milan-Linate, Rome-Fiumicino
Austrian Airlines	Vienna
Finnair	Helsinki
Iberia	Madrid
Icelandair	Reykjavik-Keflavík
Lufthansa	Frankfurt
Lufthansa Regional operated by Lufthansa CityLine	Hamburg, Munich
Olympic Airlines	Athens
Scandinavian Airlines	Copenhagen, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stockholm-Arlanda
TAP Portugal	Faro, Funchal, Lisbon, Porto
Transavia.com	See Departure Hall 3
Vueling Airlines	Barcelona, Málaga, Seville, Valencia

[edit] Pier C

Airlines	Destinations
Air France	Lyon, Paris-Charles de Gaulle
Air France operated by CityJet	Basel/Mulhouse
Air France operated by Régional	Clermont-Ferrand, Lyon, Strasbourg
KLM	See Departure Hall 2
LOT Polish Airlines	Warsaw
Meridiana	Florence
Transavia.com	See Departure Hall 3
VLM Airlines	London-City

[edit] Departure Hall 2

[edit] Pier D

Airlines	Destinations
Aer Lingus	Cork, Dublin
Aeroflot	Moscow-Sheremetyevo
Air Astana	Atyrau, Uralsk
AirBaltic	Riga
Armavia	Yerevan
Atlas Blue	Al hoceima, Nador, Oujda, Tangier
BMI	London-Heathrow
British Airways	London-Gatwick, London-Heathrow
British Airways operated by BA CityFlyer	London-City
Bulgaria Air	Sofia
Croatia Airlines	Dubrovnik, Pula, Split, Zagreb
Czech Airlines	Prague
Cyprus Airways	Larnaca, Paphos
Estonian Air	Tallinn
Jat Airways	Belgrade
KLM	Aberdeen, Athens, Bahrain, Barcelona, Bergen, Berlin-Tegel, Birmingham, Bucharest-Otopeni, Copenhagen, Edinburgh, Geneva, Glasgow-International, Gothenburg-Landvetter, Helsinki, Istanbul-Atatürk, Kiev-Boryspil, Lisbon, London-Heathrow, Madrid, Manchester, Milan-Linate, Milan-Malpensa, Moscow-Sheremetyevo, Munich, Nice, Oslo-Gardermoen, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Rome-Fiumicino, St Petersburg, Stockholm-Arlanda, Tehran-Imam Khomeini, Thessaloniki, Vienna, Warsaw, Zürich
KLM operated by KLM Cityhopper	Aberdeen, Bergen, Berlin-Tegel, Billund, Birmingham, Bologna, Bordeaux, Bremen, Bristol, Brussels, Cardiff, Cologne/Bonn, Durham-Tees Valley, Düsseldorf, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, Geneva, Glasgow-International, Gothenburg-Landvetter, Hamburg, Hanover, Humberside, Kristiansand, Leeds/Bradford, Linköping, Liverpool, London-Heathrow, Luxembourg, Manchester, Marseilles, Munich, Newcastle, Nice, Norwich, Nuremberg, Oslo-Gardermoen, Oslo-Sandefjord, Prague,Stavanger, Stuttgart, Toulouse, Trondheim, Venice-Marco Polo, Vienna, Zürich
Malév Hungarian Airlines	Budapest
OpenSkies	New York-JFK
Rossiya	St Petersburg
Royal Air Maroc	Casablanca, Nador, Tangier
Skyways Express	Vilnius
TAROM	Bucharest-Otopeni
Transavia.com	See Departure Hall 3
Ukraine International Airlines	Kiev-Boryspil

[edit] Pier E

Airlines	Destinations
Cathay Pacific	Hong Kong
China Southern Airlines	Beijing-Capital, Guangzhou
EVA Air	Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Taipei-Taoyuan
Japan Airlines	Tokyo-Narita
KLM	Abu Dhabi, Abuja, Accra, Addis Ababa, Almaty, Atlanta, Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Beijing-Capital, Bonaire, Cairo, Calgary, Cape Town, Chengdu, Chicago-O'Hare, Curaçao, Dallas/Fort Worth, Damascus, Dammam, Dar es Salaam, Delhi, Doha, Dubai, Entebbe, Guayaquil, Hong Kong, Houston-Intercontinental, Jakarta-Soekarno-Hatta, Johannesburg, Kano, Khartoum, Kilimanjaro, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Lagos, Lima, Los Angeles, Manila, Mexico City, Montréal-Trudeau, Muscat, Nairobi, New York-JFK, Osaka-Kansai, Panama City, Paramaribo, Quito, St Maarten, San Francisco, São Paulo-Guarulhos, Seoul-Incheon, Shanghai-Pudong, Singapore, Taipei-Taoyuan, Tehran-Imam Khomeini, Tel Aviv, Tokyo-Narita, Toronto-Pearson, Tripoli, Vancouver, Washington-Dulles
KLM operated by PrivatAir	Houston-Intercontinental
Northwest Airlines	Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Mumbai [resumes 3 September], New York-JFK [ends September 1], Seattle/Tacoma
Singapore Airlines	Singapore

[edit] Departure Hall 3

[edit] Transavia.com destinations

Departing primarily from Piers B, C, D, and G (most flights depart from Pier D)

Airlines	Destinations
Transavia.com	Agadir, Alicante, Antalya, Banjul, Barcelona, Bergerac, Berlin-Tegel, Bodrum, Corfu, Dalaman, Djerba, Dubrovnik, Faro, Fuerteventura, Funchal, Heraklion, Izmir, Kefalonia, Kithira, Kos, La Palma, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Lesbos, Lisbon, Malaga, Marrakech, Montpellier, Nice, Pau, Pisa, Preveza/Lefkas, Rovaniemi [seasonal], Olbia, Tenerife-South, Valencia, Venice-Treviso, Zakynthos

[edit] Pier F

Airlines	Destinations
Adria Airways	Ljubljana
China Airlines	Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Taipei-Taoyuan
Georgian Airways	Tbilisi
Kenya Airways	Nairobi
KLM	See Pier E
Malaysia Airlines	Kuala Lumpur
Northwest Airlines	See Pier E
Royal Jordanian	Amman
Syrian Arab Airlines	Damascus

[edit] Pier G

Airlines	Destinations
Afriqiyah Airways	Tripoli
Air Transat	Calgary, Toronto-Pearson, Vancouver
Arkefly	Antalya, Aruba, Banjul, Bonaire, Cancun, Curaçao, Fortaleza, Hurghada, Luxor, Monastir, Montego Bay, Natal, Holguin, Porlamar, Puerto Plata, Punta Cana, St Maarten, Sharm el-Sheikh, Varadero
Arkia	Tel Aviv
Continental Airlines	Houston-Intercontinental, Newark
Delta Air Lines	Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky [ends 16 August], Mumbai [ends 3 September], Newark, New York-JFK [resumes September 1], Portland (OR)
EgyptAir	Cairo
El Al	Tel Aviv
Iran Air	Tehran-Imam Khomeini
Israir	Tel Aviv
Korean Air	Madrid, Seoul-Incheon
Martinair	Aruba, Cancun, Curaçao, Havana, Miami, Orlando [resumes 15 October], Puerto Plata, Punta Cana, San José de Costa Rica, San Juan de Puerto Rico, Varadero
Onur Air	Ankara, Antalya, Bodrum, Dalaman, Istanbul-Atatürk, Izmir
Pakistan International Airlines	Islamabad, Istanbul-Atatürk
Pegasus Airlines	Antalya
Royal Air Maroc	Casablanca, Tangier
Sun d'Or International Airlines	Tel Aviv
SunExpress	Antalya, İzmir, İstanbul-Sabiha Gökçen
Surinam Airways	Paramaribo, Georgetown
Swiss International Airlines	Basel/Mulhouse, Zürich
TACV	Praia
Transavia.com	See Departure Hall 3
Turkish Airlines	Ankara, Istanbul-Atatürk, İzmir, Kayseri [seasonal]
Tunisair	Tunis
United Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare, Washington-Dulles
US Airways	Philadelphia

[edit] Pier H

Budget; Non-Schengen

Airlines	Destinations
Bmibaby	Birmingham, East Midlands, Manchester
EasyJet	Belfast-International, Bristol, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London-Gatwick, London-Luton, London-Stansted
EasyJet operated by EasyJet Switzerland	Basel/Mulhouse, Geneva
Flybe	Exeter, Southampton
Jet2.com	Leeds/Bradford
Sky Airlines	Antalya

[edit] Pier M

Budget Schengen

Airlines	Destinations
Air Berlin	Palma de Mallorca [seasonal]
EasyJet	Madrid [begins 2 November], Milan-Malpensa, Rome-Fiumicino [begins 2 November]
MyAir	Bari, Rimini
Norwegian Air Shuttle	Copenhagen, Oslo-Gardermoen
SkyEurope	Prague, Vienna
Windjet	Fòrli

[edit] Cargo airlines

• Asiana Cargo
• Atlas Air
• Cargolux
• Cathay Pacific Cargo (Dragonair)
• China Airlines Cargo
• China Southern Cargo
• DHL
• El Al Cargo Airlines
• Emirates SkyCargo
• Empost
• Etihad Crystal Cargo
• Gemini Air Cargo
• Great Wall Airlines
• Jade Cargo
• JAL Cargo
• Kalitta Air
• KLM Cargo
• Martinair Cargo
• MASKargo
• Nippon Cargo Airlines
• Northwest Cargo
• Polar Air Cargo
• Qatar Air Cargo
• Singapore Airlines Cargo
• TNT Air Cargo
• Tristar Air
• Volga-Dnepr (including subsidiary AirBridgeCargo Airlines)

[edit] Government

• Dutch Coast Guard (aircraft operated by the Royal Netherlands Air Force)
• Politie Luchtvaart Dienst

[edit] Other

• Dutch Dakota Association

[edit] Airport Schiphol in popular culture

In the 1983 book Floodgate by Alistair MacLean, Schiphol is subjected to a terrorist attack, in which the entire airport is flooded after a bombing of the surrounding dikes.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Schiphol

• Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (official site) (Dutch) (English)
• Fire Brigade Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
• Schiphol Mortuary (Dutch only)
• Resources for this airport:
  • Current weather for EHAM at NOAA/NWS
  • Accident history for AMS at Aviation Safety Network

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