ONE of the largest airports in Europe has committed to a huge multi-billion pound investment programme, with several areas earmarked for upgrades.
Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is one of Europe‘s main travel hubs, with many connecting routes touching down there.
It was named the third best airport in Western Europe at this year’s Skytrax World Airport Awards.
On Friday (August 30) its bosses pledged to invest a total of €6bn (£5.05bn) by 2029 in what it labelled the largest investment plan in the airport’s history.
The new figure is an extension to a previously announced investment of €3bn, which is due to take place from 2024-2027.
This initial project includes upgrades to Pier A, where both new facilities and additional boarding gates are being added.
Airport piers are also known as “arms” and are long, narrow buildings where planes can park.
When it opens, the new building will be spread over three floors and have a total of eight narrowbody and widebody gates as well as border control facilities and retail outlets.
It is expected that the new facilities and gates will increase the airport’s capacity, while reducing congestion and improving the efficiency of airline operations.
The new investment that was announced today includes “major” works at Pier C.
Whether or not they will be similar to those being done at Pier A remains to be seen.
There will also be upgrades to the baggage basement, climate-control systems, escalators, aircraft stands and taxiways.
Airport chiefs said it’s their aim to provide “quality” for the millions of passengers who pass through every year.
CEO Pieter van Oord said: “Our infrastructure is the foundation of our service, but is currently far from what we want to offer our passengers as a quality airport in the Netherlands.”
Schiphol added that for the full year 2024 it expects a total number of passengers of between 65 and 68million and a total number of flights of between 470,000 and 473,000.
The Dutch government last year tried to limit flights with the support of Schiphol to around 450,000, or 10 per cent below 2019 levels, in a bid to limit noise.
But it bowed to industry pressure and objections from the European Union, which said it should first look at other possibilities to reduce sound levels.
In December the airport claimed that it would have the capacity for as many as 483,000 flights this year.
It remains to be seen how much the capacity will increase, once the £5bn worth of investment has been completed.
It’s not the only airport in Europe being revamped in a bid to increase capacity.
Katowice Airport in Poland has announced a massive four-year improvement project, including a new central passenger terminal.
Elsewhere, Madrid Barajas Airport in Spain is due to undergo an ambitious renovation project, worth €2.4bn (£2.1bn).
Terminals one, two and three will all be refurbished as part of the expansion.
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