Amsterdam Airport Schiphol 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; 4.76417
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 formerly had the IATA code of SPL, which has fallen into disuse and replaced by AMS.

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 12th largest 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 (331 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]

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 amount of ships lost in the area.

• 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 off 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.

Schiphol has large shopping areas as a source of revenue and as an additional attraction for air-carrier 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 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.

Schiphol uses 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 airside (i.e. you passed security), passengers cannot go to any of the other halls or piers. When changing between Schengen and non-Schengen areas is immigration control.

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.

Schengen destinations

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

Budget; Non-Schengen

Budget Schengen

• 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
• Volga-Dnepr (including subsidiary AirBridgeCargo Airlines)

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

• Dutch Dakota Association

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.

• Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (official site) Template:Nl Transclusion error: {{En}} is only for use in File namespace. Use {{lang-en}} or {{in lang|en}} instead.
• 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