Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

About Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, known informally as Schiphol Airport, is the main international airport of the Netherlands, and is one of the major hubs for the SkyTeam airline alliance. It is located 9 kilometres southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province of North Holland. It was the world's fifth busiest airport by international passenger traffic in 2024. With almost 72 million passengers in 2019, it is the third-busiest airport in Europe in terms of passenger volume and the busiest in Europe in terms of aircraft movements. With an annual cargo tonnage of 1.74 million, it is the 4th busiest in Europe. AMS covers a total area of 2,787 hectares of land. The airport is built on the single-terminal concept: one large terminal split into three departure halls. Source: "Amsterdam Airport Schiphol" by Wikipedia contributors (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam_Airport_Schiphol), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Edit history on the linked Wikipedia page.

Overview

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is the main commercial airport for Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its IATA code is AMS and its ICAO code is EHAM. The clocks here run on Europe/Amsterdam, the runway sits right around sea level, and the airport is one of the busiest airports on the planet, with around 453 scheduled departure pairs in the public OpenFlights schedule plus onward connections through partner airlines.

Terminals and concourses

Most travellers will pass through one of a handful of terminal areas at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Bigger fields tend to split domestic and international traffic into separate halls, each with its own arrivals area, immigration counters, customs and a landside check-in concourse. Signage is bilingual wherever the local language and English share the airport, and walking between terminals at Amsterdam's main gateway is usually possible on foot. Where the aprons stretch more than a kilometre, a shuttle bus or an automated people mover takes over.

Lounges and amenities

Lounge options at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol match what you would expect from one of the busiest airports on the planet. There is normally at least one airline-run lounge for premium-cabin passengers and elite-status flyers, plus an independent or contract lounge that sells day passes and accepts programmes like Priority Pass, DragonPass, Plaza Premium and LoungeKey. Inside, you can usually count on hot food, espresso, charging at every seat, decent Wi-Fi, and showers at the busier terminals. Quiet zones, prayer rooms and family areas tend to sit landside near check-in.

Getting to and from the airport

Getting between Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and central Amsterdam is straightforward. Licensed taxis queue at marked curbs outside arrivals, with metered or zoned fares posted at the rank. Ride-hail apps have a designated pickup point, often one level up at departures or in a nearby lot. Public transport varies by city. A primary gateway like this one almost always offers an express train, a metro line or a dedicated airport bus running from before the first wave of departures until after the last arrival. Long-stay parking, rental car desks and hotel shuttle stops are clustered together on the landside.

Tips for travellers

A few things worth knowing for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Aim to arrive at least two hours before a domestic flight and three hours before an international one, especially during peak banks. Local time is Europe/Amsterdam, so plan your transfers around the time difference if you are coming in from another zone. Save a screenshot of your boarding pass before you leave the house, since terminal Wi-Fi is hit and miss when it gets busy. If you are connecting on a partner airline, check whether your bag is tagged through to the final destination, because Amsterdam Airport Schiphol handles a mix of in-terminal and inter-terminal connections. With 453 direct destinations on the public schedule, this is a useful node for both point-to-point trips and onward connections across Netherlands and the wider region.

More guides for AMS

Four extra pages dig deeper into lounges, layovers, getting to and from the airport, and the terminal layout itself. Open whichever one matches the problem in front of you.

Direct destinations from AMS

These are the cities you can fly to nonstop from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, based on the published schedule. Tap any one to open its own terminal, lounge and route guide.