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| Home > City Guide - Amsterdam - Getting There By Air | ||
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Getting There By Air Schiphol International Airport (AMS) Tel: (0800) 7244. 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 and was recently voted ‘Best Airport in Europe’ by readers of Business Traveller Magazine. 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 throughout the UK. Transavia (tel: (020) 406 0406; website: www.transavia.nl), 80% of which is owned by KLM, operates scheduled flights to London Gatwick and Barcelona. On the domestic front, KLM Cityhopper operates services between Amsterdam and Eindhoven. Other major airlines include Air France, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, Easyjet, Egypt Air, Go and Northwest Airlines. Approximate flight times to Amsterdam: From London is 50 minutes; from New York is 7 hours; from Los Angeles is 10 hours 25 minutes; from Toronto is 7 hours; and from Sydney is 21 hours 20 minutes. Airport facilities: Facilities include 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 airport 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. These can cater for groups of up to 50 or 80 and 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; website: www.klm.com) 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 €10 for a single ticket and €20 for a return. NS (tel: (0900) 9292, for national enquiries or (02) 620 2266, for international enquiries; website: www.ns.nl) trains run between the airport and Amsterdam Centraal Station, every 15 minutes 0600-2400 (journey time – 20 minutes) and every hour throughout the night. A one-way, second-class ticket costs €2.90. There is also a direct link between Schiphol and Amsterdam’s RAI Congress Centre, with trains running every 15 minutes 0525-2410. Schiphol also has direct links to The Hague, Rotterdam and Vlissingen. Official airport taxis pick up passengers from outside the arrivals hall. The journey to the city costs from €30 and takes around 15 minutes, depending on which part of the city is required. |
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