Amsterdam Airport

Schiphol is Netherlands' main airport. Situated 17.5 km south-west of Amsterdam, Schiphol is a European mainport, dealing with passengers and cargo throughout Heathrow International Airport in London, UK, Frankfurt International Airport in Frankfurt am Main, Germany and Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Roissy, France.

In 2005, Schiphol ranked fourth in Europe in terms of passenger traffic with 44,163,098 passengers Almost 35% of its passengers travelled on intercontinental flights. In the same year Schiphol ranked third in terms of cargo with 1450 tons.

KLM fleet at Schiphol has 5 main runways, plus 1 used mainly by general aviation aircraft.

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.

Due to heavy -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 became functional, many low cost carriers began to operate from Schiphol. Parking fees at Schiphol Airport starts at EUR 5 a day.

Schiphol is the home base of KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines), Martinair and Transavia, and a center for United States based Northwest Airlines.

Schiphol has won more than 120 prizes over the years, 1980-2003, awarded as the best airport in the world. It has won the title of "Best European Airport" during 15 consecutive years (1988-2003) with a lot more prizes, including "Best Business Travel Airport", because of its usually perfectly organized operations & large number of transnational flights. In 2005 direct flights were operated to more than 260 destinations in 91 countries.

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 travellers, but also for non travelling visitors. There is a regular-size supermarket, Food Village, that is open until midnight seven days a week. The Rijks museum also operates a small dependance 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. Additionally, it also has its own mortuary, where deceased people can be handled and kept before departure or after arrival. An interesting factor has been added too. That is, since October 2006 people can also get married at Schiphol and go on honeymoon directly.

Schiphol was established as a military airbase in the early 20th century. When civil aircraft started to make use of the field (Dec 17, 1920), it was often called Schiphol-les-bains.

Schiphol's name has been derived from Old Dutch, meaning "ship hell".

Schiphol is organizing 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 which the 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. When changing between Schengen and non-Schengen areas, there is immigration control.

Piers B and C are dedicated Schengen areas. Pier 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-59 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.