Schiphol, 19 September 2006

On 19 September 1916 the first aircraft landed at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Now, 90 years later, some 44 million passengers and 1,449,000 tonnes of cargo pass through the very same location. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is the world's oldest international airport still situated at its original location.

To mark the airport's 90th anniversary, today sees the publication of the Dutch edition of a book entitled 'Non-stop Schiphol' by Erik Derogée, one of the airport's operations managers. Operations managers are responsible for maintaining order and safety at the airport zone. In his book, Derogée describes the process between landing and departure of an aircraft and allows us a glimpse behind the scenes. When writing this book he spoke with dozens of employees and the management of businesses at the airport and also drew on his twenty years' experience at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. 'Non-stop Schiphol' is available at bookstores in the Netherlands (Dutch version only).

As part of the airport's 90th anniversary celebrations, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra together with Dutch violinist Janine Jansen will be giving a special concert for the airport's neighbours. The concert will be held on 14 October. On the same day a statue of the airport's founding father and first airport operations manager, Jan Dellaert, will be unveiled. Dellaert was the airport's first station master and operations manager. He worked for the airport from 1920 to 1960. Under his aspiring leadership, the airport was rapidly reconstructed after having been completlely destroyed during World War II. Dellaert devised ground-breaking plans for a new airport, consisting of a central terminal and a tangential runway system, which opened in 1967. The basic design of Dellaert's Schiphol remains virtually unchanged today.

Note for the editor Enclosed are historic, low-resolution photographs as well as a fact sheet on the airport's history. High-resolution photographs are available from Corporate Communications & Public Affairs, tel: + 31 (0) 20 601 26 73.