Depart<strong>in</strong>g from SchipholThe comfort andconvenience of abus<strong>in</strong>ess travellerPhoto <strong>Holland</strong>se Hoogte14<strong>Holland</strong>Airport Technology
Passengers need to f<strong>in</strong>d their way around airports as quickly and easily as possible, and <strong>in</strong> thisrespect Schiphol Airport caters to their every whim by constantly implement<strong>in</strong>g new and <strong>in</strong>novativetechnologies developed by a wide range of Dutch companies. This article follows a fictional passengercalled Scott Travis on his journey through the wonderful world of Dutch airport technology.By Marc MijerScott Travis is due to fly home today. However, he arrived back athis hotel <strong>in</strong> the early hours of the morn<strong>in</strong>g follow<strong>in</strong>g a d<strong>in</strong>ner with aDutch client <strong>in</strong> Amsterdam city centre. They had been celebrat<strong>in</strong>g adeal that Travis had struck with the client on behalf of his Americanemployer. Consequently, Travis did not get that much sleep andgot up a little later than he had planned. Luckily, his taxi gets himto Schiphol Airport from Amsterdam city centre <strong>in</strong>side twentym<strong>in</strong>utes. Now it’s f<strong>in</strong>gers crossed that check<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> and board<strong>in</strong>g gojust as smoothly …Unknown to Travis, he is already be<strong>in</strong>g helped on his way themoment he goes through the revolv<strong>in</strong>g door <strong>in</strong>to Schiphol Plaza,because the door is a Boon Edam Tw<strong>in</strong>tour (1), which allows eightypassengers and their luggage to enter the airport every m<strong>in</strong>ute(the highest passage capacity <strong>in</strong> the world). What’s more, Tw<strong>in</strong>tour(and Tournex) revolv<strong>in</strong>g doors can be found throughout the entireairport. They limit congestion, wait<strong>in</strong>g times and irritation andare also draught-proof. The doors guide <strong>in</strong>tersect<strong>in</strong>g flows ofpassengers past each other <strong>in</strong> an efficient two-way system. Inaddition, all door sets collapse to provide wide escape routes <strong>in</strong> anemergency situation.Black and yellowThis is the first time <strong>in</strong> his life that Travis has departed from thisairport, so he did have some concerns beforehand. However,thanks to the signs (2), he knows immediately where he has to go.different crystal-clear colour schemes for Schiphol facilities thatare not directly related to travel, such as blue signs for shops, darkgrey for toilets and green for the emergency exits. Because of allthese signs, Travis is <strong>in</strong>st<strong>in</strong>ctively rem<strong>in</strong>ded of the film “Term<strong>in</strong>al”starr<strong>in</strong>g Tom Hanks, which is not surpris<strong>in</strong>g because Mijksenaarwas an adviser to director Steven Spielberg when he was build<strong>in</strong>gthe set for the film!As he approaches the check-<strong>in</strong> counters, Travis remembers howhe only discovered after he arrived home last year that there wereth<strong>in</strong>gs miss<strong>in</strong>g from his case. He doesn’t want to go through thataga<strong>in</strong>. Fortunately, he can go to Seal & Go (3), which is a companybased at the airport that can completely seal multiple cases,rucksacks, baby buggies, golf bags and other types of luggage – allwith<strong>in</strong> one m<strong>in</strong>ute. Seal & Go developed a new fireproof, odourfreesystem that uses special foil to seal the baggage faster, andit is even possible to advertise on the foil. Travis pays seven eurosto have his case sealed, thus ensur<strong>in</strong>g that it is 100% resistant tothieves, drug smugglers and terrorists.Iris scanTravis is therefore reassured when he goes to check <strong>in</strong> at one of theself-service kiosks us<strong>in</strong>g his e-ticket. Once he has checked <strong>in</strong>, heleaves his case at one of the drop-off po<strong>in</strong>ts, which are about tenmetres away. Vanderlande Industries (4) developed this check-<strong>in</strong>method of the future for Schiphol Airport, as well as the baggage“Just like Tom Hanks <strong>in</strong> the film ‘Term<strong>in</strong>al’”The impact of the signs is due to the extensive research conductedby designer Paul Mijksenaar <strong>in</strong>to the ergonomics of sign systems,which confirmed that black letters on a yellow background –Schiphol’s trademark for decades – is the comb<strong>in</strong>ation that is themost strik<strong>in</strong>g as well as be<strong>in</strong>g the easiest to read. The size andboldness of the letters ensure that the different languages usedon the signs stand out from one another. Mijksenaar devisedclaim carousels and the baggage sorters. The security screen<strong>in</strong>g is<strong>in</strong>cluded <strong>in</strong> the partly underground baggage-sort<strong>in</strong>g process, sopassengers do not need to queue to have their cases scanned bya separate scann<strong>in</strong>g mach<strong>in</strong>e before they check <strong>in</strong>. Another recent<strong>in</strong>novation is the robot loader, which reduces the amount of heavyload<strong>in</strong>g work for human baggage handlers, thereby <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gproductivity and efficiency.1Photo Teo Krijgsman2 3www.hollandtrade.com15
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