Why is Schiphol so special to you?

If you follow the media in the Netherlands, it cannot have escaped your notice that Amsterdam's airport, Schiphol, exists 100 years this year. Newspapers and magazines contain articles about the history, there are (photo) exhibitions in Amsterdam and television also broadcasts programs about this anniversary. You can follow it all on the Internet, because if you google “Schiphol 100 years” quite a few websites appear that revive history or tell you which festive activities are being organized.

For many, Schiphol is special. Of course, you are leaving somewhere or coming back from abroad, but it can also be a special place for you in another way. It could be the start of a holiday or extended stay abroad, and if it doesn't concern you, it could be a loved one whose departure or arrival has an emotional significance. There are many other possibilities, fun or less fun experiences, funny incidents and what not.

I'm going to tell you some of my experiences with Schiphol, nothing spectacular, but nice to write down. First some general information and then a number of anecdotes or "adventures", which are directly or indirectly related to our national airport Schiphol.

General

So far I have taken off or landed almost 1000 times (currently 988 times to be exact) from one of the 138 airports I visited. Most times it was business, but also regularly for a private visit. Schiphol was the starting or ending point on just over 400 occasions, of which approx. 300 times with KLM. I still have all flights registered in my computer and it shows that the Top 3 destinations from Schiphol are Bangkok (19 times direct and about 10 times with stopovers), London (18 times, both business and private) and Zurich ( 17 times, for business or pleasure in Switzerland or as a stopover for a trip to South America or Asia). I've been to London and Bangkok before, but then I came from a different airport than Schiphol.

My first contact with Schiphol

That was not yet as a passenger. In 1961, the Netherlands left New Guinea and all military personnel returned to the Netherlands. Having just completed my training as a radio operator in the Navy, I was stationed at Schiphol with a group of others as a kind of liaison between KLM and the Ministry of Defence. If one of the many KLM aircraft, which transported these soldiers to the Netherlands, was delayed, it was my assignment to report this by telephone to an officer on duty, who could then take the necessary measures. That lasted three weeks and all that time we took turns in a room with a telephone, but not once did I have to take action.

First arrival at Schiphol

In 1963/1964 I was on Curaçao for the Navy. We had sailed there with a navy ship and after the end of the “term” in the West, which had lasted 18 months, I flew as a passenger with a DC-7 from Curaçao via Santa Maria to Schiphol. It was the first and last introduction as a passenger to the old Schiphol. That arrival was festive, because the whole family was waiting for me with gifts, flowers, etc. A surprise was the presence of Carla, a girl next door, with whom I had started dating through correspondence. We were allowed to sit in the back of the van and kissed a bit. However, that courtship soon came to nothing. I sometimes wonder how Carla went on.

Honeymoon

In 1969 I got married. After the wedding reception, we went on our honeymoon to Switzerland. I had booked the trip without revealing anything about the destination to my wife, it was supposed to be a surprise. I wanted her to see at the last minute, when we walked through the gate to the KLM plane at Schiphol, that we were going to Zurich. I betrayed the secret a little too soon. My wife asked during duty-free shopping how many cigarettes we were allowed to import into the destination country. I replied that in Switzerland…….shit! In our hotel, the travel agency had provided flowers and a bottle of champagne, it was a great trip with beautiful memories.

My first business trip

In the meantime I had taken my first steps in the business world and in 1970 I made my first business trip. A company in Ravensburg, southern Germany had bought a large machine from the company I was working for at the time. All technical details, price and the like had already been agreed, I was allowed to handle the terms of delivery. The machine was intended for further export to Pakistan, so seaworthy packaging, delivery address, delivery time and such matters had to be discussed. I flew with KLM to Zurich and was picked up by a neatly dressed man, just like me, who drove me to Ravensburg in his car. In my best German I spoke to the man about my company, about the Netherlands, about Pakistan, about I don't know what else and the man kept saying yes and amen. He dropped me off at a hotel in the center and the next morning I was picked up again and driven to the company. Then it turned out that my interlocutor was someone completely different from the one who had picked me up. I was picked up by a company car with a driver. What a luxury I found that!

Moscow

Years later I traveled a lot to the former Eastern Bloc countries. I regularly visited Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, the GDR and then also visited Moscow a number of times. The first time was with KLM, with a stopover in Warsaw. Initially the plane was full, but after Warsaw there were still 5 passengers left for Moscow, including me. We were served royally with food and drinks!

In Moscow I had a meeting with a director of the newspaper Izvestia about the delivery of an addressing machine. However, that discussion only started properly after the man had locked his room and we had finished a bottle of French cognac together. Sweet biscuits were supposed to ease this alcohol suffering.

A subsequent trip to Moscow was again with KLM, but now direct. I visited a major international exhibition, where a Dutch pavilion was also present. There I heard that the day before two Aeroflot planes had crashed near Moscow, oh dear, I would – due to the temporary heavy traffic on the route – fly back to Schiphol with Aeroflot. After a lot of effort I managed to fly to Copenhagen with the SAS and from there safely home with the KLM.

Leipzig

During that period I visited the Leipziger Messe twice a year. It was the showpiece of the GDR, because you could have all kinds of discussions in East Berlin, but in the end the contracts were only signed in Leipzig. I could tell a long story about it, but let me confine myself to the journey to and from Leipzig. The Leipziger Messe always lasted about 10 days and then both KLM and Interflug maintained a daily flight to and from Schiphol. That did not go in a straight line, because the border from West Germany to the GDR was not allowed to be crossed. All flights then went with a detour via Czechoslovakia to Leipzig.

I usually only went there for a few days and once it was necessary with the East German Interflug. However, we could not land in Leipzig - due to weather conditions it was said, while the weather was beautiful - and were delivered to Dresden. We had to figure out how to get to Leipzig ourselves. When I spoke to people at the fair, it turned out that before our planned landing, the same type of aircraft as I had traveled from Schiphol had crashed near Leipzig. Interflug was also blacklisted by me. .

Tehran

In the last period of my working life, I flew every month with KLM to Tehran for a year and a half. After we had sold a large production line for processing potatoes, my great director and I once again went to Tehran to work with the client to put the first spade in the ground for the new factory in which that production line would be set up. It was winter and then it can be pretty cold in the North of Iran. We were prepared for it, because we had our winter coats with us. This time we couldn't go back with KLM, but first had to go to Dubai to take the KLM plane back to Schiphol. There I wanted to go outside to smoke a cigar and I succeeded, but we stood there with our winter coats on in a radiant sun with a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius.

The Schiphol – Tehran line has always been lucrative for KLM and therefore also for Schiphol. I recently heard that the line, after being closed for a while, has been reopened. The planes were always packed and if you may be surprised, I tell you that most passengers used Schiphol as an intermediate station from or to (often) Canada or the USA. From a full plane, I usually stood with only about 20 people waiting for my luggage at the belt.

Customs Schiphol

I myself have never actually had any problems with customs checks upon arrival at Schiphol. Only once did I have to open a suitcase, but most of the time I was able to walk through. Not so, however, a colleague who had spent a weekend in London with his wife. Due to circumstances, the details of which I no longer remember, they flew back to the Netherlands separately from each other. The woman to Rotterdam and my colleague to Schiphol and each took a suitcase without regard to whose contents it belonged. On the way there he had bought, among other things, a bottle of Campari tax-free, which was put in the luggage on the way back and had broken due to rough handling on the way. De Campari oozed like blood from his trunk and, of course, he was apprehended. The trunk was opened and the customs officer held up a soiled piece of clothing, his wife's bra, with the silly question: "Is this yours, sir?"

Delay and precautionary landing

In the eighties I traveled a number of times to South American countries such as Argentina, Uruguay and Chile. For one of those trips, the flight from Schiphol to Buenos Aires was delayed and that delay was quite long. The captain and his copilot even came to the waiting area at the gate to reassure the passengers. The captain - a man with a genuine Twente accent - said that the plane that was to be used for the journey had arrived too late from another destination. He said, among other things: I will throw some extra coal on the fire later, then we will reduce the delay a bit”. Apparently he had thrown on too much coal, because just above Brazil the captain decided to land in Rio de Janeiro because of “a red light” as a precaution. I can tell you that such a precautionary landing is an enormous burden for the organization and, of course, also causes a lot of inconvenience for passengers. I will spare you the details, but I have come to admire the purser in particular, who withstood all the protests and mouthful mouths of passengers with great diplomacy. The arrival in Rio was early in the morning and only late in the evening another plane was chartered to take us to Buenos Aires. The worst (!) for me was that I quickly ran out of cigars and couldn't buy new ones in Rio. Since then I always have an extra supply of cigars in my hand luggage!

My Thai wife traveling alone to the Netherlands

The first time my Thai wife came to the Netherlands she traveled alone. We had arranged the visa together at the Dutch embassy, ​​but I had to return home earlier. That journey went well in itself, but she has bad memories of what happened at Schiphol upon arrival. She was removed from the queue with a few other Thai ladies who traveled alone and were severely questioned by the Marechaussee about their stay in the Netherlands. Fortunately, she had all the papers we had used to obtain a visa with her, as well as my mobile phone number. I was called by an otherwise very correct officer of the Marechaussee. When I had mentioned my name, he further asked:

“May I ask where you are at the moment?”

“Yes, I am waiting for someone from Thailand in the arrivals hall”

“Can you give me the name of that person”

“Yes, I am waiting for Sukram Nadee”

“May I ask you what the plans and purpose of her coming to the Netherlands entail?”

“Yes, she is coming to visit me for a holiday, we will visit friends and family and visit different places in the Netherlands.”

"Thank you for your cooperation. You have informed me sufficiently and your guest will be with you shortly”.

And indeed, a few minutes later my Thai wife arrived in the arrivals hall, happy because she saw me, but also sad because she found the interrogation by the Marechaussee very humiliating, especially since her knowledge of English was still minimal at the time.

Finally

I would have liked to tell you much more about Schiphol. About the possibilities of buying tax-free cigarettes and drinks, about (long-term) parking, about the Business Class Lounge, about that one time when I traveled First Class with KLM to and from Curaçao, about that one time when I paid 1000 guilders won at the Casino (I don't talk about losing, of course), about the one time I forgot my passport and about the sometimes jealous looks and talk of colleagues when I take Business Class again, what they consider a “candy trip” to some made far country and was away from home for two or three weeks.

I have spoken enough, now it is your turn to tell us your pleasant or less pleasant experiences with Schiphol in a reaction.

Oh yes, one more fun fact. In an article about 100 years of Schiphol, someone said that the first flights to London could sometimes take up to 4 hours in a headwind. The current flight time to London is approximately 45 minutes, but at a busy airport like Schiphol, quite a bit of time is added to the journey. With the travel time from home, any parking, passport and security checks and the time lost during boarding, a trip to London is still the same as it was 100 years ago.