Blog  ·  26 JuneHow Schiphol prepared for the NATO Summit

Planning for the NATO Summit began at Schiphol more than a year ago. In the deepest secrecy, the largest-ever security operation was prepared. While much experience had already been gained from the Nuclear Security Summit (in 2014, also in The Hague), the world has changed since then. Consider, for instance, increased cybercrime and geopolitical tensions. The roadmap for the NATO Summit had to be a lot more extensive. Schiphol wanted to be prepared for every possible scenario.

Preparations began with a visit to Vilnius Airport. Vilnius was the location for the 2023 NATO Summit, the last time delegations landed at a passenger airport. Last year, the summit was in Washington and a military airport was used. A lot of practical knowledge was gained from colleagues in Lithuania. The main difference was that Vilnius closed for a few weeks around the summit, while Schiphol remained open to travellers.

And that had implications for air traffic. The Polderbaan Runway (intended for government aircraft) and the Buitenveldertbaan Runway (currently undergoing major maintenance) could not be used during the summit. Regular air traffic therefore had to be temporarily reduced by about 10%. An adjustment of flight schedules made room for the extra flights due to the NATO Summit.

Nothing was left to chance at Schiphol. At the end of May, the whole process was tested and fine-tuned from start to finish. A special NATO aircraft played the role of government aircraft and several Schiphol employees were the stand-ins for the government leaders, heads of state and delegation members.

The process at Schiphol was the same for every delegation. Aircraft landed on the Zwanenburgbaan Runway, where the head of government and/or head of state disembarked ceremonially. The aircraft were then towed to the Polderbaan Runway, where the rest of the delegation disembarked and the planes were parked. These were positioned so that, if necessary, a head of state or government could leave early. The Polderbaan was made extra secure, with more than 4 kilometres of extra fence to cordon off the area. The spotter's location near the Polderbaan and the surrounding roads and cycle paths were temporarily closed.

As the flow of passengers continued in the terminal, the delegation members were taken by bus to a special NATO terminal. This was set up at EXPO Greater Amsterdam. Here was passport control, the baggage hall and customs. In the ‘Arrival Hall’, delegation members were met by their embassies, who took them to their accommodation.

Many parties at Schiphol needed to get involved in such a big operation as the NATO Summit. Besides the airport itself, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, Customs, Ministry of Defence, the municipality of Haarlemmermeer and, of course, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs all had a role to play. This required a lot of consultation and cooperation, during the preparations and on the days of the summit itself. After all, when the whole world is watching, the process must run smoothly down to the smallest details.

Want to see what happened at Schiphol before and during the NATO Summit?