Photo

As the world, and particularly Europe grows ever smaller, airports have had to reinvent themselves as much more than just arrival and departure points. Once a dirt strip and drained swamp, how has Amsterdam’s Schiphol transformed, and how is it looking to the future?

By Nathaniel Tishman

At precisely 9:20 AM on Thursday, Iran Air flight 765 touches down at Amsterdam Schiphol. Directly behind it lands El Al Israel Airlines number 337. Iran denies Israel’s existence, but the plane that just landed must have come from somewhere– two enemies, meeting on an airport runway thousands of kilometers from their ancient battlefields. How did they end up here, in what used to be nothing more than another muddy swamp in northern Europe? Schiphol Group, the owner/operator of the largest airport in the Netherlands has worked to maintain the status of Amsterdam as one of Europe’s premier destinations for air traffic.
So, has it worked? Apparently so. According to Airline Business magazine, Amsterdam Schiphol is the 10th busiest airport in the world, and the 4th in Europe, trailing only London Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, and Frankfurt, with 204 destinations in 82 countries served by 86 different airlines. Other airport authorities have seen the success of Schiphol and have asked for help- Schiphol Group manages three regional Dutch airports, portions of New York’s John F. Kennedy, and the airport of Brisbane, Australia.

The Schiphol region has become an economic engine for the Netherlands, and the Amsterdam region in particular, employing almost 54,000 people. By far the largest employer is Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij, known to English speakers as KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, with almost 25,000 employees based at Schiphol. Martinair Holland is a distant second, with just over 2,300 people employed. The operation of Schiphol has proved a windfall for the Dutch government, which owns 75.8 percent of Schiphol group- in 2001, net profits were over 180 million Euros.

The trend of privatizing airports is a recent development, with the idea being to put the management of such an important asset into hands which can operate more efficiently than a government. One of the first examples was Paris’ Roissy Charles de Gaulle and Orly under the new authority of Aéroports Du Paris in the late 1980’s. As such, airport authorities are not necessarily run like an average business.

“They [other airport operators] are our competitors, and we know them well, but we are not enemies like the airlines,” says Jacques Reder press officer for ADP. “We could pave the runways with marble, and we wouldn’t attract any extra airlines. “We have to do good business, but not business for business’ sake."

The Airport as a City…

The Schiphol region has become an economic powerhouse for Holland in large part because of AirportCities, a concept pioneered by the new management. AirportCities are engineered, and based on the premise that although nobody lives at the airport, the services available there should rival those of a major city. Schiphol in particular has become world-renowned for their implementation of this idea. The most recent addition, and the crown jewel of Schiphol’s AirportCity is a branch of the Rijksmuseum, featuring works by Rembrandt, Jacob van Ruisdael, and Pieter de Hoogh.
Development is not only limited to the terminal building. Between 2001 and 2005, three new office buildings will be constructed at Schiphol and the World Trade Center. Additionally, plans for a golf course designed by architect Bruno Steensels and a luxury resort are in the works, set to open in late 2004. The ultimate vision of Schiphol is to be a “Mainport,” a hub for air, rail, and road transportation. Whether this can be achieved, however, remains to be seen.

Home

Previous Page • Next Page