Amsterdam Schiphol is one of Europe’s biggest and busiest airports, and a major hub for both KLM and Delta Air Lines.

Living in the UK, I have travelled through Schiphol many times in order to connect onto European or long-haul flights around the world, and as such I’ve developed a good understanding of where to spot whilst in transit in order to make the most of my time there and cover most aircraft movements.

Schiphol is essentially a single-terminal airport, with piers B-H protruding from the main building. Piers B and C are for Schengen flights, and pier H is for low-cost airlines. Both require going through passport control, and therefore remove you from the rest of the building.

As a first stop, head for pier D. This one actually splits in two, so head for the end of each in turn, starting with the right-hand one. Along here you will have views of some aircraft parked on the C pier, and importantly you can see the cargo ramp on the far side of runway 06/24, as well as the remote Schiphol Ooste area, where biz jets and unusual types can often be seen.

After covering pier D, head back towards the main building and walk along the base of piers E and F. There’s no real need to go along these piers as you can see everything from the windows you pass. These piers are mainly home to KLM and Delta long haul airliners.

When reaching pier G, you’ll walk along an external passageway with windows overlooking part of the pier. You can take pictures here usually.

Upon entering pier G, walk straight ahead, behind the cafe/bar. From here you can see and photograph aircraft parked at pier H. Next, walk the length of pier G, noting aircraft parked either side – these will include other airliners from North America, Asia and Turkey. You can also see across to long-haul airliners parked up away from the terminal (usually KLM and Surinam Airlines examples).

At the end of pier G is a nice large window overlooking a runway and taxiway, and is good for photography as plenty of aircraft will pass by you.

Performing this route a number of times, depending on how long you’re in transit, will help you keep on top of movements at Schiphol.

If you want to sit for a drink or bite to eat, one of the better places is the combined seating area in the upstairs food court between piers E and D (McDonalds etc.). You’ll see the distant taxiways and runway, where many aircraft will pass.

Once inside pier C, you still have good views, particularly from the end of the pier, of aircraft on runway 06/24, pier D and the cargo ramps. You’ll also see many of the commuter aircraft which park on the remote ramp.

A great website for finding out what you saw at Schiphol is http://www.scramble.nl/splmovs.htm

Do you have a top tip for spotting airside at Amsterdam Schiphol? Leave a comment below!

The Panorama Terrace at Amsterdam Schiphol has recently taken delivery of a new feature to delight aircraft enthusiasts and families visiting to watch the movements at the airport. Fokker 100 PH-OFE, formerly operated by KLM Cityhopper (and still in their latest colour scheme) has been lifted onto the terrace.

Visitors will now be able to go inside the aircraft and look at it in detail. It will be maintained by the airport and kept in great condition.

A video of the aircraft being lifted onto the terrace is available on YouTube. You can view it here:

Fokker 100 (PH-OFE) lifted onto Panorama terrace @ Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

Every year there’s an excellent aviation fair at Rotterdam Airport in the Netherlands. You may know it as Luchtvaartbeurs.

I attended a few years ago and enjoyed the mix of aviation collectibles and stalls with and active airport. That year they organised airside tours and a drive down the runway in a bus.

This year they may be offering the same, but the highlight has to be the sightseeing flights by the Dutch Dakota Association DC-3.

The fair runs from 10am-4pm on 16 April 2011 inside the terminal at Rotterdam Airport. Entrance is free. More details here: http://www.scramble.nl/dsc.htm

Simon Brooke has recently written a report of a new-ish hotel at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport which has airport views and very reasonable prices.

The CitizenM hotel is a cross between a boutique hotel and the Starship Enterprise.
It is located a short (3 minutes or so) walk from the terminal at AMS (with a covered walkway) and overlooks the easyJet stands and everything to the north of that.

It is almost totally computerised so there is, for example, no reception – just six self-service check-in screens. As the screens give a “runway view”
room choice, this shouldn’t be a problem for enthusiasts.

The view from the fifth (top) floor is pretty good!

The rooms are not very big, and the bed takes up the whole width of the room
for a couple of metres from the window into the room (so the only way to get
a really good view out of the window is to lie on the bed – spotting in
comfort!!!!). No good for photography as the venetian blinds are adjustable
but immovable.

Wi-Fi is free, and there is a British 13 Amp socket in the room (as well as
several European sockets) but the 2 tables are tiny. However the bed is so
big that the SBS box and laptop can happily lie on it beside a single
sleeper….

The bar/coffee shop is open H24 and snacks (hot & cold) are available H24 as
well. There are, of course, plenty of other eating options in the Schiphol
terminal.

There is no parking at the hotel, and the hotels is all non-smoking.

The computerised check-in system allows you to check in early – before 14:00
- for a fee (I checked in at 10:30 in the morning) and offers you a similar
facility for late check-out – after 11:00.

It’s rather twee and amusing – especially for technocrats – but it’s
reasonably priced, convenient for the airport, totally B-S free and the
“runway view” rooms on the higher floors are pretty damned good. The staff
are very friendly and helpful. It also has the best lounge area – virtually
the whole ground floor – of any hotel I’ve ever used!

I hope this is of interest as an alternative to the Ibis and Etap.

The new high-speed train link from Amsterdam Schiphol is due to open in September. This will run directly from the terminal to Antwerp, Breda, Brussels and Rotterdam.

Trains running on the route travel at 250km/h 16 times a day. This makes travel around the Netherlands and Benelux region much faster.

Sorry for the late warning. Dutch Spotters are hosting another Rotterdam Aviation Fair inside the terminal building on Saturday 18 April.

Parking and entrance is free. Inside you’ll find many booths and tables selling all kinds of books, DVDs, models, slides etc.

You can also take part in ramp tours of Rotterdam Airport (I did one of these a couple of years ago and it proved very fruitful!). There’s also the chance to take a sightseeing flight to Amsterdam.

The event is open from 10am to 4pm. See this link for more information.

Upstairs, Rotterdam has a great viewing gallery overlooking the apron.

The following message has been sent from Dutch Police to spotters at Amsterdam Schiphol airport:

Since 1-7-2008 there is 24/7 a new unit operational responsible for the security in the perimeters of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

This unit is equipped with Mercedes Jeeps and Volkswagen Touaregs in the well known Dutch Police colours.

Today on the Sramble forum the chief of this Unit, Mr. Warmerdam introduced himself and his unit to the Amsterdam spotters community an to explain what they are doing and why so.

This new unit is working closely together with local Military Police and the Airport Authorities, and the unit plays an important role in the security of the airport.

All members of this police –unit are appointed by Ministry of Justice and Inland Affairs.

The new unit stressed not to be there to make our spotters life miserable but they are there to guard and protect. They acknowledge the fact that spotters can be their extra pair of eyes around the perimeter. This is one of the reasons why these police officers are actively seeking contact with spotters in action and talk to each other.

However is must be clear that they will act immediately in certain circumstances:

1. Do not park and do not stop sings must be obeyed at all time from now. So it is clear parking along the famous “Taxibaan” is not allowed anymore. Parking now is only allowed in the designated area’s for this.
2. Pedestrians, cyclists etc will not be moved from public roads by them under the now active threat-level ( so not a guarantee under a scale up)
3. The perimeter and area around the airport is a so called safety-risk area designated so by government. Therefore this unit has lots of permissions to take actions. Be aware of the fact that one person must always carry an ID with him like drivers licence, passport etc.
4. Parking in front of crash gates will not be tolerated.

Furthermore the police notices that lots of spotters are more or less known to each other. So we could have the early and very first signs if “strange birds” are among us. In case of high priority he recommends 112 for alarming whilst in the meantime a special telephone number will be created for this purpose by the Airport Authorities.

I think this is a very positive move. You now know the rules, and know to co-operate with the police as they do not wish to move you on unless necessary.