Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Europe's fifth largest for passengers and third in terms of cargo, has come a long way since its start nearly a century ago. The vision of the AirportCity at Schiphol has seen the airport grow not just in capacity, but also in the development of a multitude of innovations.
"In the AirportCity concept, an airport is more than just an area in which one waits for his flight. In our philosophy, an airport has everything a modern city has to offer to its guests. That includes the 'usual facilities', like bars and restaurants, but also special experiences, like a library and even a museum" says Annemiek Holkeboer, Manager Marketing Communications. "Amsterdam Airport Schiphol has long been commissioning pieces of art from young talented Dutch artists to help get their names established and a collection of original murals and sculptures are displayed around the various lounges and other public areas. The idea grew further with the opening of the world's first museum in an airport in 2002, in the form of an annex to Amsterdam's famous Rijksmuseum. Open from 7am to 8pm, Schiphol's Rijksmuseum is free of charge. It houses paintings and other works from the Golden Age of Dutch art, with originals by 17 century Dutch Masters. It gives those travellers who do not have time to visit the main Rijksmuseum at least an impression of what it is like."Navigating around the airport has been designed to be fast and easy in a one-terminal building, with four interconnecting departure lounges formed in a crescent around the central Schiphol Plaza public area. Useful overhead signs located around the airport indicate walking times to different areas, including times to departure gates. Wifi is available throughout the airport, free for the first hour of use.
To further speed up time from kerbside to boarding, business passengers will especially appreciate the airport's automated services which include self-service boarding, transfer and even a self-service baggage drop off system, where passengers can beat the queues by checking in their own luggage and printing their luggage label.
State of the art baggage handling and passport control
Schiphol's groundbreaking new baggage transport system, known as the 'Backbone', is currently the airport's largest investment programme, at an estimated cost of over 800 million euros. When fully finalised in 2013, the Backbone will link the airport's West, E, D and South baggage basements with an integrated system able to handle 70 million items of luggage a year. The 15000 m2 South Baggage Hall, the first airport baggage system to use robots to load baggage containers, is already completed and in operation.
As part of its mission to make its passengers' journeys quick, safe and comfortable, Schiphol operates Privum, a programme especially for frequent travelling passengers. For a small annual fee, Schiphol's Privium members can use state-of-the-art technology of iris recognition at the border control to gain considerable time savings compared to passing through manual passport controls. Privium member passengers travelling to a Schengen destination (within the European open-border area) also benefit from fast transit through the personal and hand baggage controls, as well as exclusively reserved parking spaces and discounts on Schiphol Valet Parking.
Whatever class of travel they are flying, Privium Plus members can enjoy the dedicated Privium ClubLounge with comfortable relaxation and work areas, free wireless internet and complementary food and beverages. A priority 'Privium Only' route gives direct access from the lounge to the post-passport control area. And for further time savings, a number of airlines offer Privium Plus members the option of checking in at their business class desks, whatever class of travel they are flying in.
Transport links and hotels
With its excellent transport connections, Schiphol's main catchment area extends far beyond the borders of the Netherlands. Schiphol benefits from the train station, situated directly underneath the airport. Connections are particularly convenient for Belgian travellers, with a direct Thalys link to Brussels in just 1 hour 38 minutes. International high speed routes are also offered by Thalys to Antwerp, Gent and Paris and by ICE International to Dusseldorf and Cologne. In addition to the Fyra high speed train links throughout Holland, night train services are available to Utrecht, Amsterdam, Leiden, The Hague, Delft and Rotterdam.
For those looking for a more unconventional way to visit the city of Amsterdam, the 'Floating Dutchman' brings an unusual alternative. A bus and boat in one, the Floating Dutchman collects passengers arriving at the airport, continues on to the city centre and enters the water at a splash zone to continue its journey as a water launch through the canals of Amsterdam. After the trip the bus emerges from the water and continues its journey back to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
The airport offers a variety of parking options, ranging from short visits to long term parking and special parking options for those who expect more comfort.
Passengers who need to stay longer at the airport have a wide choice of hotel accommodation to choose from. Yotel, the cocoon-style concept hotel, and Mercure offer rooms and shower facilities for travellers needing a quick stop to relax and refresh behind the border control, while numerous big name business hotels, including the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport, the Hilton Amsterdam Schiphol, the citizenM Schiphol and the Radisson Blue Amsterdam Airport, are situated either at Schiphol, or nearby with connecting shuttle buses.
"Our developments have been carefully designed to mean that passengers will always benefit from quick and convenient navigation through the airport, excellent route networks and an ever-increasing number of new services to make time at the airport a pleasant part of their journey" says Annemiek Holkeboer. 'Amsterdam Airport Schiphol aims to be the best airport in Europe, offering all its visitors a pleasant and inspiring environment for travel, work and pleasure."
