Schiphol Airport
Schiphol Airport, located 20 minutes (17.5 km) south-west of Amsterdam, belongs to the municipality Haarlemmermeer and is the Netherlands' main airport. As one of the European main airports, Schiphol competes 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.
The airport also had the IATA code of SPL but this has fallen into disuse.
In 2006, Schiphol ranked fourth in Europe in terms of passenger traffic with 46,088,221 passengers, behind London Heathrow (67,530,223), Paris Charles de Gaulle (56,808,967), and Frankfurt am Main (52,810,683). In the same year Schiphol ranked third in terms of cargo with 1559 thousand tons, behind Paris and Frankfurt.
Schiphol has 5 main runways, plus 1 used mainly by general aviation aircraft. The "fifth runway" (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 EUR 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.
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 honored 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.
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 travelers, but also for non traveling visitors. There is a regular-size supermarket, Food Village, that is open until midnight seven days a week. The Rijksmuseum also operates a small dependence at the airport, offering a small overview of both classical and contemporary art.
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.
Nederlandse Spoorwegen, the Dutch rail provider, operates a major passenger train station directly underneath the passenger terminal complex.
History
Schiphol started early last century (Sep 16, 1916) as a military airbase, consisting only of a few barracks and a mud pool 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. 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.
