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Schiphol International Airport (AMS)
Tel: (020) 601 9111 or (0900) 0141. Fax: (020) 604 1475.
E-mail: schiphol@xxlink.nl
Website: www.schiphol.nl

Schiphol, located 15km (nine miles) southwest of Amsterdam, is a major European hub with over 90 airlines flying to over 220 destinations. Schiphol ranks fourth behind London, Paris and Frankfurt, handling 36.8 million passengers in 1999.

Major airlines: The national airline KLM - Royal Dutch Airlines (tel: (020) 474 7747; website: www.klm.com) flies direct to all major European, North American and Asia-Pacific cities. KLMuk flies to London Stansted and several regional airports in the UK. Transavia (tel: (020) 406 0406; website: www.transavia.nl), which is 80% owned by KLM, operates scheduled flights to London Gatwick and Barcelona. On the domestic front, KLM Cityhopper operates between Amsterdam and Eindhoven. Other major airlines include: Aer Lingus, Air France, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, Easyjet, Egypt Air, Go, Northwest Airlines and Swissair.

Approximate flight times to Amsterdam: From London is 50 minutes; from New York is 7 hours 5 minutes; from Los Angeles is 10 hours 25 minutes; from Toronto is 7 hours 5 minutes; and from Sydney is 21 hours 20 minutes.

Airport facilities: Bureaux de change, currency exchange machines, restaurants, duty-free shops, left-luggage, tour operators, hotel reservations and prayer rooms. Shower facilities and day rooms are available at the terminal hotels (tel: (020) 604 1339; fax: (020) 601 2742). Car hire companies include Avis, Budget, Europcar and Hertz.

Business facilities: The business centre (tel: (020) 653 2480; fax: (020) 653 2566) is open to all passengers. Facilities include fax, personal computer, telephone and secretarial services. It is open Monday to Friday 0830-2000. There are two conference rooms in the terminal that can cater for groups of up to 50 or 80. These must be booked in advance through the business centre.

Coin operated fax machines are located throughout the terminal. Computers, printers and mobile telephones - for making and receiving both local and international calls - can be rented from KPN Telecom Rentcentre (tel: (020) 653 0999; fax: (020) 653 0998), which is open 0700-2200. There is also a press centre and some major airlines have executive lounges, which offer some business facilities.

Arrival/departure tax: None.

Transport to the city: KLM (tel: (020) 653 4975) operates a blue shuttle bus service to the city centre every 30 minutes between 0600-2300 (journey time 20-30 minutes). Hotel stops include the: Pulitzer, Krasnapolsky, Sofitel, Crowne Plaza, Renaissance, Golden Tulip Barbizon, Tulip Inn, Carlton, Okura, Holiday Inn, Novotel and Park. The cost is f17.50 for a single ticket, f30 for a return. Trains run between the airport and Amsterdam Centraal Station every 15 minutes 0600-0000 (journey time - 20 minutes) and every hour through the night. The journey takes 20 minutes, a one-way, second-class ticket costs f6.25. There is also a direct link between Schiphol and Amsterdam's RAI Congress Centre, with trains running every 15 minutes 0525-0010. Schiphol also has direct links to The Hague, Rotterdam and Vlissingen. Taxis pickup from outside the arrivals' hall a journey to the city costs from f70 and takes around 15 minutes, depending on which part of the city is required.



Copyright © 2001 Columbus Publishing
    
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