Amsterdam Airport Schiphol welcomes one billionth passenger!

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol welcomed its one billionth passenger today. The passenger arrived on board KLM flight KL0644 that left from Terminal 4 of John F. Kennedy Airport in New York last night.

The one billionth passenger was greeted at the gate by Mr Jos Nijhuis, President and CEO of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Mr Peter Hartman, President and CEO of KLM. The one billionth passenger is Ms Inge Serné from Haarlem, who arrived at Schiphol at 11:30 this morning after a city break to New York, and was pleasantly surprised by the welcome she received.

Jos Nijhuis: “This is a special day for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Since the foundation of the airport in 1916, we have built up a network of connections that links the Netherlands to the rest of the world via 303 destinations in more than 100 countries. Schiphol has grown into an airport that is vital to the Dutch economy and an important driving force for job creation in the region. Today we have reached the milestone of one billion passengers and we are celebrating this with passengers, airlines, ground handlers and staff.” Peter Hartman explains: “New York is KLM's most important intercontinental destination from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. In collaboration with its partner Delta Airlines, KLM carries around 700,000 passengers on this route every year. We warmly congratulate Schiphol on this milestone in its history.“

The one billionth passenger received a travel voucher from Schiphol and KLM worth EUR 2,000, a gift voucher worth EUR 1,000 to be spent in any shop at the airport, and a year's membership of Privium and Schiphol Excellence Parking. In addition, she was allowed to donate EUR 10,000 to a good cause of her choice. Ms Serné decided to donate the amount to the Dutch Cancer Society.

On leaving the aircraft the other passengers also received a Schiphol present.

Ten large, colourful digits two metres high proclaimed the news at the airport today: 1,000,000,000. Schiphol was handing out bags of sweets bearing the same digits to passengers and visitors.