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.

The view of Schiphol from afar…

The successful development of the Schiphol region has served as a model for other European air hubs, although not all have chosen to follow the same path. The British Airport Authority which operates London Heathrow, the world’s busiest, as well as six others in the UK have stuck to more traditional concepts. Unlike Schiphol, which has attempted to unify everything within a single building, the BAA has begun work on a fifth terminal at Heathrow, at a cost of almost 3 billion pounds. Despite the differences in methods, there is a great deal of respect in the airport industry for the recent development of the Schiphol region.

“We see Schiphol in the same way that we see Paris Charles de Gaulle and Frankfurt as major rivals,” says Mark Pearson, spokesman for the BAA at Heathrow.

Perhaps Schiphol is a more direct rival than BAA had bargained for. In early 2001 the Schiphol Group ran a series of advertisements suggesting that Schiphol was “London’s 3rd airport.” The Evening Standard noted this, saying, “Schiphol is certainly building a good case: a one-terminal concept which obviates schlepping between buildings; minimum connection time (MCT) of 40 minutes short and 50 minutes long haul; and one of Europe's best punctuality records. Capacity has been increased on the D-pier concourse - the busiest - and it is now used almost exclusively for UK flights. Refurbishment of the central lounge is complete, a new shopping complex and communications centre have opened and a further £1 billion is being spent on expansion.”

Aéroports du Paris, the eighth-busiest airport in the world, sees the both the Schiphol region as well as the airport itself as a force to be reckoned with. It has followed a more traditional approach to airport design, and turned a profit of almost 7 million Euro last year.

“France is in a good place economically speaking. We have a very good tool with the airport, and of course we hope to have future development,” says Reder. “Schiphol airport is strong, and the Schiphol Group is a powerful company.”

In perhaps the best example of the effort to preserve their market share, as well as to foster further interregional cooperation, Schiphol Group and Fraport, the operator of Frankfurt/Main’s international airport created the Pantares alliance in January of 2001. Under the plan, both companies will cooperate in passengers, retailing, ground-handling, cargo, real estate development, facility management, information technology and international
activities.

“Airport alliances are a logical development and act somewhat as a counterweight to the spread of airline alliances,” says Robert Payne, spokesman for Fraport.

Indeed. Pantares has its eye on expansion, with the potential to reap benefits in both the Schiphol/Amsterdam region as well as the city of Frankfurt/Main and indirectly the state of Hessen. Panatares recently signed a statement of intent to work with the Italian operator Aeroporti di Roma S.p.A., the operator of Fiumicino and Ciampino airports in Rome.
“It is still an option that we may broaden the alliance. In principle the venture is open to other airports if the strategy fits," says Payne.

What happens next?

As time marches on, the world, and particularly Europe grows ever smaller. Air travel, once exclusively the domain of the wealthy, has given way to the likes of 20 Euro Ryanair flights, and easyJet. Statistics show it- in 1940 16,000 people flew from Schiphol; last year it was over 40 million. The number of air travelers in coming years is expected to grow exponentially, as in the past, and airport authorities are struggling to keep up.

In a drive to stay competitive, the Schiphol Group has introduced new technologies, such as the Privium program, an iris-scanning identifier for frequent travelers, and new facilities such as the Polderbaan (Polder Runway) begun in 1995, and finished just days ago. What sort of impact the expansion will have on the Schiphol region in the future remains to be seen, but for now flights will continue to come in on schedule, from Moscow and Mumbai, Tehran and Tel Aviv.