Our Review of Schiphol Airport

Our Review of Schiphol Airport

At Plan Your Trips, we have analysed hundreds of airports around the world, gaining a clear understanding of what users expect when visiting an airport. With this know-how, we have created this guide, placing passengers at the forefront of everything, aiming to simplify and enhance the airport experience.

In this guide, our goal is to present information in a manner that is both quick and reliable. Recognizing that passengers often have limited time and may be in a hurry, we strive to ensure that they do not waste time unnecessarily.

Another key focus of our guide is to highlight the strengths of the airport and also the weaknesses, and in some cases, offer recommendations to travellers. In alignment with this approach, we provide users with aggregated information on delays and on-time performance, analysing both airlines and individual flights.

Pros and Cons of Schiphol Airport

PROS

Location:  AMS Airport is located 9 kilometres (5.6 miles) southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer, North Holland, making it easily accessible.

Important Hub: Schiphol Airport is a hub for KLM, KLM Cityhopper, KLM Cargo, Martinair and a focus city for Transavia, Easyjet and TUI fly Netherlands.

Modern and Clean Facilities: The airport is known for its modern facilities, including a wide range of shops, restaurants, baby care rooms, and lounges.

Lost & Found: At Amsterdam Airport there is a Lost and Found centre for those passengers who have lost items in its facilities. 

Accessibility: Amsterdam airport is accessible from multiple places with a variety of transport options including train, bus, taxi, car rentals, transfers, and more.

 

CONS

Seasonal Crowdedness: Being one of the busiest airports in Europe, it can get very crowded, especially during peak times. Despite efficient processes, the volume of passengers can lead to long waiting times at security and immigration.

Navigation between Terminals: Though all the parts of terminals are interconnected, it may require long walks between gates because of the vast size of the airport. Some passengers might find the layout confusing, especially during their first visit.

Time-Consuming Security Procedures: The stringent security measures can be time-consuming and may require additional patience from travellers.

Parking Fees: High fees for long-term parking.

Mini-Guide of the Airport (2' Guide)

Single Terminal:  Schiphol airport has only one terminal grouped by different piers. The terminal is divided into Schengen and non-Schengen sections. Schiphol Airport has a main passenger terminal with the following concourses: B, C, D, E, F, G, H and M. It is divided into several halls: Departure hall 1, Departure hall 2 and Departure hall 3, all of them under the same roof. Be aware of which Departure hall your flight departs from.

Transport to and from Schiphol

• Public Transport: Schiphol is well-connected via trains, buses, and taxis. The train station is directly beneath the airport, offering frequent services to Amsterdam Central Station and other cities.
• Night Arrivals: Public transport options decrease after midnight, but taxis and rideshare services like Uber remain available.
• Car Rentals: Major car rental companies are located in the arrivals hall for convenient vehicle pick-up. 

Check-in Areas

• Check-in Halls: Located in level 1 of terminals with self-service kiosks, departures and traditional check-in counters. The check-in desks in the departure halls at Schiphol are divided into 33 rows. Check-in desks 1-8 are in Departures 1, desks 9-16 are in Departures 2 and desks 17-32 are in Departures 3. Check-in desk 1A is in Departures 1A. You can find the number of your check-in desk and the relevant departure hall in the Schiphol app.
• Security Checkpoints: They are located near the check-in areas, ensuring a streamlined process from check-in to departure.

Schiphol -Amenities and Services

• Shopping and Dining: Schiphol Plaza and airside areas offer a wide range of shops, from duty-free to luxury brands, and diverse dining options.
• Lounges: Multiple lounges, including the KLM Crown Lounges and Aspire Lounge, provide a comfortable place to relax with food, drinks, and other amenities.
• Extra Services: Free Wi-Fi, Wellness centres, Medical Services, etc.

Family-Friendly Features

• Children’s Areas: Designated play areas and baby care facilities are available throughout the terminal.
• Family Services: Separate family check-in areas and facilities for nursing and changing babies.

Use the Schiphol App: The app provides real-time flight information and helps you navigate the terminal.

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol combines efficiency with extensive amenities, making it a convenient and pleasant airport for travellers.

How we calculate On Time Performance

On various pages of our website, you will encounter a metric widely utilized in aviation and other forms of transportation known as OTP (On Time Performance). We believe that providing this metric assists passengers in planning their trips and exploring alternatives before purchasing their flight tickets.

We calculate the On Time Performance for all flights and airlines, when we have enough data to do so. In certain instances, it may not be feasible to accurately compute the On-Time Performance for a specific flight or airline due to inadequate or non-representative data, which could result in misleading conclusions.

Our calculation of On Time Performance and delay information solely relies on arrival times. This approach is chosen over calculating departure delays, as we consider arrival punctuality to be of primary concern to passengers.

The On Time Performance displayed on our website is calculated as follows:

• On Time: Flights that arrive within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival time, or earlier. In the absence of data for a specific flight, we assume the flight arrives on time, to avoid penalizing airlines for data unavailability.
• Moderate Delay: Flights that arrive with a delay of 15 to 30 minutes.
• Significant Delay: Flights that arrive with a delay of 30 to 60 minutes.
• Major Delay: Flights that arrive with a delay exceeding 60 minutes.
• Average Delay: The average delay is calculated by considering flights that arrive early as having a delay of 0 minutes. Early arrivals do not contribute to reducing the average delay calculation

Some Stats

Annual Passengers Evolution

Airlines with more flight operations (last 3 months)

Airlines with best on-time performance at Amsterdam Airport (last 3 months)

Routes with more flights from Amsterdam Airport (last month)