The $3BN Plan to Fix Europe's Most Important Airport

it's no secret that the Dutch are big

fans of biking culture but there's

another mode of Transit holding the

ultimate boarding pass in this country

with over 62 million passengers in 2023

Skol airport ranks as one of Europe's

busiest hubs that's largely thanks to

its centralized location and historical

ties to Long Haul destinations in other

parts of the world for decades it was

considered one of the Region's top

travel hubs but in recent years it's

reput ation has faced a bit of

turbulence and many haven't been happy

with their experience now the airport's

looking to redeem Itself by investing

over $3 billion on construction projects

from enhanced passenger amenities to an

impressive dual taxiway Amsterdam wants

to redefine the travel

experience but doing all that in the

middle of a live airport with thousands

of people and flights moving through

daily is no easy task so buckle up this

is how Amsterdam is upgrading one of

Europe's most hated

airports opening all the way back in

1916 skip all airports was initially a

small military Airfield but it didn't

take long to grow in size by the next

year it was already one of the largest

airports in Europe for the next couple

of decades it steadily continued growing

that was until the outbreak of World War

II the airport became a frequent Target

of German bombings and by the end skiple

lay in Ruins forcing Amsterdam to

rebuild fast forward to today and the

airport boasts a total of six runways

and a main terminal that's divided into

four zones each with separate peers and

gates for years skiple has topped the

list of the world's best airports loved

by passengers and Airlines alike as a

frequent spot for layovers it's been

known for its navigable layouts and with

over 300 direct flight piles offered

around the world it's the top connected

European

airports then came the summer of

2022 largely due to labor shortages

following the pandemic the airport was

plagued with hours long security cues

lost baggage claims delays and

frustrated Travelers at one point it had

to introduce capacity caps to keep up

with demands the result of all that was

that the airports world ranking

plummeted down 14 spots to 29th Place in

2023

even officials admitted its poor

performance during that year so with a

tarnished image skiple is looking to

turn things around with a goal of

focusing on quality over quantity to do

that the airport is spending over $3

billion in improvements and upgrades all

of which is going to help increase

capacity which will ease cues and smooth

passenger

experience some of the key projects

include a brand new pier enhanced Lounge

areas and the completion of a system

known as a dual taxi way

here's how the airport is navigating all

of that construction

work first up let's take a look at the

layout now as we said before Skol was

designed as a singular terminal it's

connected to eight separate peers each

with several Gates soon there's going to

be a brand new paer and that's been

steadily progressing at 370 M long and

40 m wide there'll be new shops security

and border control points across three

different floors the construction works

so far have facing delays due to

contract disputes but there's still been

steady progress when it's complete PA a

is going to provide seven additional

Gates Four for narrow body planes and

three for wider plane designs more gates

means that more flights are going to be

able to pass through and by implementing

a combination of solar panels biom

materials and a glass facade the roof

and overall design is going to be

eco-friendly also included in this

Airport's Mega investment is an enhanced

Lounge one nearly 20 years old this area

is a bit outdated and in need of a fresh

look to do that over 24,000 square m are

being redesigned including transforming

a previous crew member area that'll

create an additional 5,000 square m of

space with 23 new retail food and drink

spots for passengers to enjoy despite

the ongoing construction Works parts of

the lounge are going to remain

accessible for passengers but

coordinating that with so many people

passing through is more more than tricky

so to minimize the impact the project is

going to be completed in phases and will

take place mostly

overnight if you've ever sat on a plane

and suddenly thought to yourself whoa

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Amsterdam

airports perhaps one of the most complex

and ambitious parts of Amsterdam's

update is the completion of a dual

taxiway system let's take a look at the

airports

layout right now the main terminal is

surrounded by two-lane taxiways that

planes use to come and go the Inner

Circle moves clockwise while the outer

flows

counterclockwise together they nearly

form a ring but the circle remains

incomplete between this section here

planes must instead use a single Lane

taxi way which occasionally creates a

bit of a backup causing unnecessary

congestion and delays but that's all

about to change when fully complete the

Dual taxi way is going to connect the

existing sections via a new aircraft

bridge over the A4 Motorway some of

which has been built already that's

right Amsterdam Airport shiple has built

a bridge strong enough to carry an

entire plane over one of the country's

busiest roadways the new bridge

stretches 250 M long 60 M wide and

stands around 6 M high and while airport

bridges are not exactly new they're

still an incredible feat of engineering

to look at a big bridge calls for a big

space and several buildings in the

vicinity needed to be demolished and

cleared over 350,000 tons of sand were

deposited along the Motorway to elevate

existing taxiways to the same level as

the new bridge to support both an

airplane and the 32 million kilogram

Bridge itself a strong Foundation is a

must workers drove 900 poles into the

ground which will act as a base for the

concrete platform the building of this

epic Bridge required temporary road

closures and to minimize impact on both

traffic in the airport and on the road

it was mostly done at night there's

loads more happening at skip old two

other highlights include a revamping of

the existing pierc a brand new baggage

Hall and the renewal of structures like

passenger walkways and bridges all of

which is expected to complete by

2027 amidst all the logistical

challenges the evolution of skiple

airport throughout the decades reflects

its commitment to Innovation and

resilience from its beginning as a small

military Airfield to becoming one of

Europe's busiest Aviation hubs for some

time the airport has continued to sort

and New Heights despite recent

challenges it remains dedicated to

restoring itself as one of the world's

top

airports this video was sponsored by

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at the link below don't forget that

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