Information for arriving Flights
From Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
Although most information is very realistic, information on this page
is meant for use with Flight Simulator only
and should NOT be used in real life. This guide is meant for pilots who want
to fly to or from the Netherlands
and are connected with FS98/FS2000 and Sqawkbox to the SATCO network
(SATNET).
1. A short introduction:
Amsterdam Schiphol (EHAM) is the main airport of the Netherlands, just a
small country in Europe with a population of about 15 million. The airport,
located at - (minus) 11 feet below sea level, is not the biggest airport
of the continent, although it's often chosen as the best, especially it's
huge duty-free shopping centre seem to be appreciated by the travellers.
Despite it's constant growth, the airport is still able to maintain a
one-terminal concept. The airport is homebase for the Dutch airlines KLM
(including KLM Cityhopper), Martinair, Transavia Airlines and Air Holland.
General Remark: ATC stations in this document are mentioned
with their original callsign, followed by their SB/PC callsign printed in
blue and between brackets. The following ATC stations are available in the
Dutch FIR. If a station is not available at the moment, automatically contact
the first available station in normal used order.
Position |
Callsign |
Frequency |
| Schiphol Delivery | EHAM_V_DEL | 121.970 |
| Schiphol Start-up | EHAM_S_DEL | 119.900 |
| Schiphol Ground (East) | EHAM_E_GND | 121.800 |
| Schiphol Ground (West) | EHAM_W_GND | 121.700 |
| Schiphol Tower (Main) | EHAM_M_TWR | 119.220 |
| Schiphol Tower (Secondary) | EHAM_S_TWR | 118.100 |
| Schiphol Approach (West) | EHAM_W_APP | 121.200 |
| Schiphol Approach (East) | EHAM_E_APP | 119.050 |
| Schiphol Arrival (Primary) | EHAM_A_APP | 118.400 |
| Schiphol Arrival (Secondary) | EHAM_S_APP | 131.150 |
| Amsterdam Radar (West) | EHAA_W_CTR | 125.750 |
| Amsterdam Radar (East) | EHAA_E_CTR | 124.870 |
| Amsterdam Radar (South) | EHAA_S_CTR | 123.850 |
Normally Roger Wilco is used for all voice tranmissions. The IP address is
mentioned in the ATIS. If this is not the case or the IP address is wrong,
inform ATC by text. Always try to use voice first if you are voice
capable!!!!
2. Charts
Charts, charts, charts. We cannot say it too often. This is really important guys, you don't drive to a foreign country by car without approporiate maps either. SAS FSS service provides free charts in Adobe Acrobat Reader-format. Common guys, download them, without charts you cannot operate on an airport you don't know. If you don't have documentation material onboard, you are not only putting extra weight on the shoulders of ATC, but you are also bothering fellow-pilots. They have to make extra turns to avoid you or they have to wait for you on the runway, because you are the one without the necessary charts onboard. Apart from this, it makes flying more realistic and therefore more fun.
Go to the site of the FSS, choose
for "Netherlands" and download the whole package.
A look at the northern part of the D-pier, KLM 737-800 PH-BXC on the
foreground
3. Flightplanning
Flightplanning is essential for having a good flight. For arriving traffic, a number of 12 different STAR's (Standard Terminal Arrival Routes) are in use to get you from the airway on the IAF points. At the IAF's (ARTIP, SUGOL and RIVER, depending on the direction you come from), expect radar vectors to get you at the ILS localizer. In the table below you can find some information about the STAR procedure to expect.
| Name of the STAR | Coming from airway(s) | Name of IAF | Examples of arriving airports |
| EELDE A/B | UG10, UN872, UN873 | ARTIP |
Hamburg, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo |
| NORKU A/B | T281 | ARTIP |
Munich, Vienna, Prague, Greece, Turkey |
| REKKEN A/B | UG9, UB5 | ARTIP |
Frankfurt, or all other flights below FL245 |
| DENUT | UG110 | RIVER |
Paris, all other flights coming from Spain etc |
| HELEN | UA5, UN873, UG120 | RIVER |
Brussels, Geneva, Luxembourg, Rome |
| PESER | Not applicable | RIVER |
Eindhoven, Maastricht-Aachen |
| BLUFA | UL603 | SUGOL |
Manchester, Newcastle, New York, USA |
| REDFA | UR12, UR77, UW501 | SUGOL |
London, Southampton |
| TOPPA | UR7, UL74 | SUGOL |
Keflavik, Iceland |
| ELDIN | B1, L602 | SUGOL |
Manchester, only for flights below FL105 |
If you have any questions on your specific, not listed destination,
contact ATC.
After passing IAF expect vectors
Remark: by mistake the FSS team did not include the chart for the HELEN,
DENUT and PESER arrivals. I decided to scan my own Jeppesen chart to make
these STARs available for everyone. Please do not tell further!
<g>
Download the missing chart here (108K)
4. Arriving in the Amsterdam FIR
Because the country is rather small, arriving in the Dutch airspace from
a IFR flight, usually goes via STAR procedures immideately. The point where
you cross the border is in most cases the same point as where the STAR starts.
Make sure you contact Amsterdam Radar (EHAA_W_CTR,
EHAA_E_CTR or EHAA_S_CTR) on time. Look at your airway
charts carefully and prepare your STAR. Many airways are one-way traffic
so be careful.
The usual procedure is to arrive between FL70 and FL100 at one of the three
IAF's. Plan your descend accordingly. If necessary to start your descend
before entering the Amsterdam FIR, ask Eurocontrol or one of our neighbouring
ATC stations for initial descend. He will talk to Amsterdam Radar about your
flight.
Attention for flights from London (Heathrow/Gatwick): Coming from
the direction of London, FL270 is a common FL. At passing GABAD int. (on
the UR12 route), request to descend to FL230 or lower to be level at REDFA
(entry point of the Amsterdam FIR). Amsterdam Radar will be able to control
you immideately instead of a short and complicated switch via Eurocontrol.
5. The way from the IAF to the runway
If holding procedures are active, Amsterdam Radar will inform you about that as soon as possible. Holding procedures are active at the IAF's and being controlled by Amsterdam Radar. When there is no holding active, expect a handover to Schiphol Approach (EHAM_W_APPor EHAM_E_APP) slightly before passing the IAF. Again: your flight should be between FL70 and FL100 at maximum when passing one of those IAF's.
When calling Schiphol Approach, report your position and latest information
copied. Schiphol Approach will check if you have the latest ATIS received
and confirm the runway in use. Expect radar vectoring to intercept the ILS
localizer, including altitude and speed instructions. Transation level is
by ATC, usually between FL40 and FL50. In other words: set your altimeter
here from standard 1013 HPa to the local QNH. From that moment on you don't
talk about FL's anymore but about "***** feet".
In busy periods, the Approach controller might be assisted by a Schiphol
Arrival (EHAM_A_APP or EHAM_S_APP) controller.
He will do the actual vectoring to get you on the ILS fast and safely. If
Schiphol Arrival is active, Approach will hand you over.
When established on the ILS localizer, expect a handoff to Schiphol Tower
(EHAM_M_TWR or EHAM_S_TWR). Schiphol Tower will
give you the actual landing clearance and wind information.
6. After landing
Important: after landing contact Schiphol Ground
(EHAM_W_GND or EHAM_E_GND) immideately and report
runway vacated including the exit used. Be aware: stopping at
exit 3 after landing on Rwy 19R is prohibited!! To make things clear:
Schiphol Tower will not hand you over after landing, you are expected
to contact Ground on own descretion. Contact
EHAM_W_GND when vacating runway 06/24 or 01L/19R.
Contact EHAM_E_GND when vacating runway 01R/19L
or 09/27. If there is only 1 GND frequency active, contact him.
As on most major airports, taxiing can be difficult, even if you have the
right charts. To help you out a bit, generally speaking there are two major
taxi tracks: the A (Alpha) and B (Bravo) track. Normally the Alpha
track is used for traffic taxiing clockwise while the Bravo
track is used for traffic taxiing anti-clockwise. If you have a good
scenery, taxisigns may help you out in some cases. All apron entries are
numbered, as well as connection taxiways between the inner and the outer
track. These are marked by an A-* number, f.i. A3, A4, A5, etc. Ground
will give you additional information and will help you out if you have problems
to find your way.
In case two different Ground ATC stations are active, you may be asked to
monitor the other ground frequency. Monitor means that you shall switch
to the other channel and listen out. They will call you, you shall not
call them yourself to say that you're there. When vacating the runway,
Ground will assign a gate and will give addional taxi instructions if necessary.
Pilots should not change frequency on own descretion when passing the area
of responsibility.
In Sqwawkbox/PC it is common that pilots report engine shutdown, however,
there is no need to ask permission to do this. Reporting engine shutdown
is enough. All gates have either AGNIS/PAPA, SAFEGATE or SAFEDOCK docking
systems to get you to the gate safely. On some positions on the C-pier and
on the remote parking positions, marshalling is still used.
Document written and uploaded: 3 March 2000
Latest update: 15 July 2001
Written by: Mark Jansen