Amsterdam and Amsterdam Airports
Amsterdam is a thriving modern city, the capital of the Netherlands, just 50 miles from Germany, with a large number of national and international connections. Besides the airport, there are a multitude of hotels, restaurants, bars, theaters, clubs, cafes, shops, and coffee shops all over the city to enjoy. This might be one of the best ways to explore the city by train before going on to one of the other scenic routes.
2 Amsterdam Centraal (Amsterdam Airport) — 375km
Grand Central Station (Amsterdam City), 10128 Canada, Koekelberg, Netherlands
As the only airport of the city, Amsterdam Centraal is located 20 minutes away from the city center. This is an ideal way to get in and out of the city, so make sure you check ahead on your flights to make sure it is available when flying out. Otherwise, take the train to Amsterdam City (close to the city center).
Due to the high number of international flights coming and going, Centraal is already very busy with four terminals and over 7 million passengers passing through the airport each year.
Of course, it’s not just for business or pleasure In fact, a rail ticket directly to Centraal from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport may be purchased for as little as 4 euros. The station can easily be found using one of the many websites which allows one to purchase train tickets from all over Europe (free when using a Visa card).
Travel to and through Amsterdam Centraal is a fast and easy way to travel to and through the city. Upon arriving, it is possible to transfer to any train station within the city (Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Amstelveen Centraal, Utrecht Centraal) by using the ticket booths at the airport. There are also free transfers for Amsterdam Centraal passengers to destinations across the Netherlands and Germany.
As the biggest bus stop in Amsterdam, Polderbus can be used to travel to any city within the Netherlands by simply tapping one of the travel cards onto a reader. To see all the routes which are available, make sure you have a map available. To buy a bus pass from Polderbus (also known as Metrobus in Amsterdam) for Amsterdam City and surrounding areas, make sure you have a credit card with enough travel points.
Traveling by bus to and through Amsterdam will be one of the most relaxed ways to experience the city. It is also one of the most convenient ways to connect from other cities in the Netherlands to Amsterdam City. You can easily get from Rotterdam to Amsterdam Centraal in about 1 hour by bus. Centraal Amsterdam is the nearest train station. This station connects to many other cities in the Netherlands and Germany, so it is a great way to get to a whole bunch of other cities all within one quick journey. The city bus stops at all the bus stops all over Amsterdam, so you can travel across the city and explore all of the city by bus.
As mentioned, the city is very crowded, so check the schedules to make sure you are not missing the most popular routes (like the tram in the morning). As an added plus, going by train rather than bus will allow you to see a lot more of the city, allowing you to travel around the city at your leisure. The train station closest to the City Center is Centraal Amsterdam, so check out the schedules in advance to make sure you are going to the most convenient route possible. The main train station is also a little busier than the train station at Centraal Amsterdam, so if you are planning to travel to a lot of destinations in the Netherlands, make sure to check the schedules and try to make the train in the morning.
If you are flying out of Amsterdam, then the airport will most likely be at the end of a city bus route or at the end of a tram line. Make sure you do a little bit of research before you go so you do not end up needing to travel by train and bus twice (once to get to the airport and then again to get from the airport to the city). The bus stops outside the main Amsterdam Airport, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.
While some of the larger international aircraft do not fly directly to Amsterdam, all flights to and from Amsterdam have the option of stopping in the city. All foreign planes have the option to stop at Amsterdam Centraal and then travel to any city in the Netherlands from the airport. Make sure to check the schedule ahead of time because you can get from the airport to the city by just boarding the correct bus.
KLM is responsible for all international flights to and from Amsterdam. Because the airport is so close to Amsterdam City, it is feasible to go from the airport to the city in as little as 5 minutes by bus. As far as the domestic flights go, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is a little bit further away from the city center, so this trip will take longer. You can alight at the City Centre bus station and take the bus to the airport.
Though all the major airlines offer some flights, there is usually only one flight every day. So, the bus stop which you use to reach the city from the airport is likely going to be the bus stop closest to the main bus stop in the city. The distance to the airport from Amsterdam City is approximately 15 minutes on the bus. The bus ride from the airport to Amsterdam City is approximately 30 minutes. The city bus stops right at the main bus stop in Amsterdam City (which is approximately 6 minutes from the city center), so you do not have to take a lot of steps to get to the main bus stop in the city. All city buses connect to the city bus line, so all you need to do is get on the right bus. Remember that all bus routes connect with the metro, so you can go to almost any destination in Amsterdam by hopping on a metro line.
Cannes Airport
The airport in Cannes, which is expected to welcome an additional three million annual tourists when its new terminal opens in September 2021, has been ranked the one most likely to be affected by air traffic infrastructure constraints in this region of the world.
Cannes Airport is currently undergoing a revamp which will see three new terminals built and expanded over the next five years.
Spanning the existing boundaries of Cannes and the newly built La Grande Maranche District, this airport complex will ultimately see five new passenger terminals built to coincide with the planned growth in demand for air travel into this region.
The new terminals will increase capacity to almost 15 million passengers a year, more than doubling the capacity of the current airport in the peak summer season, at a potential total cost of about EUR 2 billion.
However, while the construction will be well underway by the time the airport’s new terminal opens in September 2021, the potential scale of disruption at other airports in the region – such as Toulouse – means this may not be enough.
New flights for Cannes
The expansion of the runway at Toulouse is already nearing completion with the first test flights taking off in mid-2021, with the official opening in the summer of 2021. This airport currently serves more than 2.8 million passengers each year.
According to the CAA, other new flights to be introduced in the region include Geneva-Marseille, Geneva-Valencia, Geneva-Cordoba and Geneva-Nizza in 2021.
The report highlights further opportunities to increase air capacity.
Cannes Airport is also considered the most likely airport to suffer major disruption from construction activity in this part of the world, with the construction of the new Toulouse airport expected to affect more than 600,000 flights in the coming years, and bring additional challenges for the global aviation sector.
Airport worst affected by congestion
Regional authorities are aware that this will impact directly on passengers of the existing airport in Cannes.
It is estimated that these passengers, who are faced with more delays and longer journeys, could represent a total of 50,000 of the 170,000 potential new passengers arriving at the airport each year, according to the CAA.
According to the CAA, the current airport in Cannes is already the worst affected of all major airports in the region.
Cannes Airport currently suffers delays of up to 45 minutes on its three most important domestic and international routes – Paris-Calais-Paris, Milan-Bergamo-Paris and Milan-Düsseldorf-Paris – with estimated delays of up to 30 minutes on others, the CAA says.
However, the analysis shows that these delays will grow with the development of other airports in the region, as new routes, terminals and destinations are added to the airport system.
Conversely, while the airport could be further congested during this development phase, the current congestion is a consequence of growing demand in this part of the world.
This growth is the result of recent record levels of aviation activity in Europe – which has seen a total of more than 118 million passengers and more than 36 million tonnes of cargo air transported to and from the region, according to the CAA report.
While the construction of new airports is a vital part of the overall economic development of the regions in which they are being built, the new report suggests that even this will not be enough to ease congestion at existing airports.
In fact, at the current rate of air traffic growth, the air capacity at the existing airport in Cannes could fall below its limit in just 15 years.
For the aviation industry, it is now considered the more realistic option for airport authorities to try to attract more airlines into the region with the promise of wider flight slots to expand airport capacity.
However, for passengers, this is unlikely to happen soon enough.
Advice from Paris
To make matters worse, the report also includes detailed recommendations for the management of the existing airport in Cannes.
In particular, the report recommends reducing congestion on the existing airport by separating the arrival hall from the transfer desks, as well as helping travellers by displaying departure schedules from all departing flights.
It suggests that those travelling from the south-east could be best served by using alternative transport to reach the airport, as well as staying away from the airport as much as possible during peak hours.
Passengers should also be encouraged to travel at least two hours before their flight departs to arrive at the airport.
Finally, more passenger facilitation staff would be needed to provide customer service to passengers, including guiding and advising them in airport facilities as well as informing them of the airport layout, according to the CAA.
The report adds that additional security measures should also be implemented to help increase security measures and improve safety.
Aside from highlighting the shortage of airport capacity in Cannes, the CAA report highlights the difficulty of transporting passengers through the existing airport, despite the complex journey itself.
For those arriving by plane, the current airport, located in the heart of the city, is accessed from three different railway stations.
As well as using public transport, it is also recommended that passengers could walk to the train station, to make sure they arrive at the correct terminal in the city centre.
For those travelling from the south-east, the report recommends using the Airport Express Line, from the city centre, to get to the airport in less than an hour.
Once there, passengers should be encouraged to take the EasyBus, to and from the airport.
Even though it only operates for a limited number of flights, the CAA says that those who use the Express Line are likely to spend significantly less on flights, and could help ease the airport’s current congestion.
For those on the airfield, it is recommended that emergency airfield access be extended to facilitate the immediate evacuation of passengers in the event of an emergency.