EUROPEAN AIRPORTS
walking distances can be longer as a result, way-finding is excellent. Intercontinental services operated by KLM and its Skyteam partners are grouped in piers D, E and F, near the centre of the terminal, to keep flights close together. Flights are also organised in waves throughout the day to optimise the number of global links the airport can offer. The airport environment itself, meanwhile, is among the most imaginative you will find anywhere. The rest areas are inspired by nature (complete with trees and tweeting birds), there’s a roof terrace, public art, a library, numerous Dutch touches – from a tulip shop set inside a greenhouse to a choose-your-own Bols cocktail station – and even a mini Rijksmuseum. Major renovations of Departure Lounge 2 are now going on, which will increase the amount of retail and food and beverage space by 20 per cent. New retail outlets will include a flagship Johnnie Walker House store and a Gucci boutique. The area remains open while the works are taking place – they are scheduled to be completed by summer 2015. The revamp in departures is part of the airport’s master plan to boost capacity from 52.6 million annual passengers (2013 figure) to 65 million in the next five years, with the ability to go to 80 million if necessary. This includes adding another pier and extending the terminal (both due to be ready by 2018) and building a new Hilton hotel (to open in mid-2015). One of the main parts of the
project, now well under way, is the introduction of centralised security areas to replace the airport’s at-gate checkpoints – currently a bugbear for many travellers. “We are one of the few airports with decentralised security and have waited a bit too long in changing that,” Nijhuis concedes. “It’s a huge project. We are in the middle of the refurbishments and it should be ready on June 3, 2015.” There will be five central security zones – one of which, for Schengen passengers departing Amsterdam,
30 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
is already open. The area has been designed so that experienced travellers can bypass those who need more time to prepare for scanning. Bags that fail the scan are passed through a dedicated machine, rather than being fed back through the same one, so as not to slow down the process.
The airport aims to keep security queuing time at peak periods to no more than five minutes for premium passengers and ten for other travellers. This should also have a knock-on effect on overall connections. The minimum connecting time at the airport for intercontinental flights is 50 minutes (although some contributors to our online forum have suggested this can be too short for passengers – and their baggage – to make their next flight:
businesstraveller.com/ discussion). KLM’s flagship intercontinental
Crown lounge is also being transformed (it remains open during the refurbishment). Currently 3,600 sqm with more than 800 seats, it will almost double in size. “Right now,
SCHIPHOL IN NUMBERS
FOURTH- LARGEST EUROPEAN AIRPORT
FIVE
MAIN RUNWAYS 26
UK AIRPORTS SERVED
87 RESTAURANTS
111 SHOPS
OVER 40% PASSENGERS TRANSFERRING
65-70% KLM PASSENGERS TRANSFERRING
323 DIRECT DESTINATIONS
40,000 CONNECTIONS WITH KLM/ SKYTEAM
650,000 SQM TERMINAL AREA
52.6 MILLION PASSENGERS IN 2013
1.5 MILLION BEING INVESTED IN THE AIRPORT DAILY 2014-16
the lounge is good but it doesn’t give you a wow effect,” Maarten Koopmans, vice president, passenger services at KLM says. “Since we are a transfer carrier aiming to draw customers to Schiphol, we want to offer something special there. It’s a big project – it will take two years – but we should then have one of the best lounges in the world.” Schipol by Michelle Harbi
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www.businesstraveller.asia
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