Schiphol Airport or Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is the largest Dutch airport and the third-largest in Europe, after Heathrow near London and Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. Every year, Schiphol processes more than 60 million passengers. Schiphol Airport is home to the national airline KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, but also for Corendon, Tui and Transavia. Schiphol is also the European hub for Delta Airlines and Jet Airways.
The history of Schiphol Airport dates back to 1916, in which year a military airport was established near Fort Schiphol, located in the northeast of the Haarlemmermeerpolder. A few years later this airport was also used for civil aviation with the first KLM flight Amsterdam to London. After the Second World War, Schiphol grew strongly and the airport was expanded steadily with more terminals and runways. Especially in the last 30 years, the airport has grown strongly from 16 million passengers in 1990 to more than 60 million now. Until the opening of Hong Kong International Airport in 1998, built on an artificial island, Schiphol was the only airport in the world under sea level. Most of the terminals and runways are about 3 meters below sea level.
Most flights from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol are to Paris and to Munich but there are many more flights to other destinations as well, most of them by KLM. Every day there are flights to 20 destinations from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Here are the most popular destinations:
Schiphol is one of only a few airports in the world with six runways (the larger Heathrow only has two). The terminals and piers of Schiphol are built as a spider, with the seven piers extending like a spider's legs from the central terminal. All facilities, such as shops, restaurants and lounges are located in the central area. Schiphol is renowned for the good facilities for transfer passengers. There is a branch of Holland Casino and a small part of the collection of the Dutch state museum: the Rijksmuseum.
Schiphol Airport is located about 20 km southwest of Amsterdam.
Train:
The NS Schiphol Train Station is located in the Schiphol Tunnel, directly under the central departure hall. From Schiphol Station, direct trains to Amsterdam Central depart 9 times an hour and trains to Rotterdam and The Hague 4 times an hour. The rest of the Netherlands is also easily accessible from Schiphol Station with, among other things, direct trains to Groningen and Enschede. Schiphol is also connected to the HSL line to Brussels and Paris. If you do not own an OV chip card, you can buy tickets at the NS counter at the ground floor of the departure hall.
Bus:
Several bus services depart from Schiphol Airport. The GVB has multiple routes to destinations in Amsterdam and Connexion has buses to Amsterdam, Aalsmeer and Amstelveen. During opening days of the Keukenhof Arriva offers the Keukenhofexpress. All buses leave just outside the main entrance. Oneway tickets can be bought inside the bus
See for tickets and schedule: trains: ns.nl .
The taxis in Amsterdam are one of the most expensive in the world, and a taxi to Amsterdam city center can cost around 45 euros, although this can be significantly higher during rush hours. The taxi rank is just outside the main entrance.
All prices quoted here were found in June 2017
