Major exercise at Schiphol on 19 November

On Thursday 19 November, a major exercise will take place at Schiphol, bringing together a range of emergency services, crisis management organisations and airport partners to train for a scenario involving a major security incident at the airport. Participants include personnel from the police & Special Interventions Unit, the fire service, ambulance services, the Ministry of Defence, Schiphol, KLM, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, the Kennemerland Safety Region and several other partner organisations.

The exercise will take place within the airport's secure airside area and will focus on an incident involving an aircraft and its immediate surroundings. Although the exercise will be carried out behind Schiphol's perimeter fencing, some activities may be visible from public roads.

Local residents, road users and travellers may notice a significant number of emergency response vehicles on the move throughout the day. Specialised police vehicles may also travel between different locations with blue lights and sirens activated. These vehicle movements form part of the exercise.

Not a real incident
The exercise is designed to enable emergency services and crisis management partners to train realistically for a complex scenario that requires intensive coordination and cooperation. By exercising together on a regular basis, emergency responders, public authorities and crisis organisations remain prepared for major incidents and disasters.

On 19 November, local residents and road users may see and hear more emergency service activity than usual in the vicinity of Schiphol. This increased presence is part of the planned exercise.

Why do we conduct exercises?
Major incidents require many organisations to work together simultaneously. By regularly practising this cooperation, emergency services and crisis management partners can strengthen their coordination, exchange information more quickly and respond more effectively when a real emergency occurs.

Potential disruption
The exercise has been carefully planned and coordinated with Schiphol, KLM and the participating emergency services. Every effort is being made to minimise any inconvenience to travellers, airport users, local residents and Schiphol's daily operations.