2026 is a special year for Schiphol and Amsterdam. This year marks exactly a century since the airport was handed over from the Ministry of War to the city. And we’re going to celebrate that.
The story of Schiphol begins in 1916 when the Ministry of War sets up a military airfield in the Haarlemmermeerpolder. That’s necessary due to the threat of the First World War. The ministry is the owner of the airport for the first 10 years, but the growth in civil aviation leads the municipality of Amsterdam to take over on 1 April 1926.
Since then, Amsterdam and Schiphol have been inextricably linked. A bond that we still cherish today, 100 years later. Thanks to our network of hundreds of destinations, people and goods can quickly travel around the world; from holidaymakers and business travellers to parcels, freight and medicines.
To celebrate this ocassion, we have organised various activities for the month of April. We will be welcoming groups of school pupils and showing them what happens at Schiphol and the different kinds of jobs we have here at the airport.
We’re also proud of our collaboration with the business association ORAM (Ondernemend Amsterdam) and JINC. JINC is an organisation that offers children from disadvantaged backgrounds the opportunity to broaden their horizons. Local primary school children can visit Schiphol Plaza to expand their vocabulary, and we offer “flash internships” so that young people can see for themselves what jobs are available at our airport.