Royal Schiphol Group, the operator of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands, has officially opened its new Temporary Departure Hall to help deal with the increase in passengers traveling to Schengen destinations.
The facility will boost the airport’s check-in and security capacity, helping to cater for an extra two million passengers annually. The number of Schengen passengers traveling via Schiphol increased by more than 17% in 2016.
The Temporary Departure Hall has been built on the roof of the existing South Baggage Hall and is connected to Departure Hall 1 via a passenger walkway. The hall covers approximately 43,000ft² and contains 22 check-in desks, six security lanes, several self-service check-in kiosks, sanitary facilities and seating throughout.
KLM, Lufthansa Group (Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and Swiss) and LOT Polish Airlines will all use the hall, with the first passengers departing today (April 4). The Temporary Departure Hall will remain in service until the end of 2019 when more permanent facilities, such as the new pier, will come into play and it can simply be dismantled and re-used.
Jos Nijhuis, president and CEO of the Royal Schiphol Group, said, “I’m enormously proud of the fact that we have completed this departure hall in little more than six months. Day in, day out, we have worked really hard with all our partners to get the hall up and running in time for the coming spring and summer peak. And that was necessary, too – because things will be very busy.
“Our challenge for the coming years is to keep quality and capacity at the requisite level. This is why we have begun creating extra capacity for the long term, for instance by building a new pier and terminal. That’s a major investment, which also forms the basis for further growth in capacity.
“We are also further developing the railway station zone as well as landside infrastructure such as roads and parking facilities. With our investments we aim to strengthen, improve and increase our infrastructure, quality and accessibility.”