Rediscovering the Amsterdam Airport
 

Now up in ASK THE PILOT:

A letter from Amsterdam-Schiphol. Rediscovering one of the world's friendliest airports.

Some cool photos too.


The full story is up on my home page:
http://www.askthepilot.com

Enjoy.

- Patrick

Nice story! Yes, AMS is a nice airport. I have recently been in LHR and ORD and the difference was staggering. One thing I like about AMS is that all gates are within walking distance (although it may be a long walk). Privium (eye scan passport control) is fast and pretty cool too. AMS even has free showers post customs, accessible to all transfer passengers (bring your own towel - and flip flops if you are concerned about athlete's foot).
BTW: the pronounciation of the CH in Schiphol is not a K but the same CH as in Loch Ness.

I'm not hearing a difference: http://www.forvo.com/word/schiphol/

AMS is definitely one of the best airports in the world! I visited a friend from Netherlands last year and I can attest to the friendly and accommodating staff of the airport. The free showers are pretty cool, too.

My Dutch colleague pronounces it with the K vice a CH... ;)

I hear the CH in Schiphol as that noise one makes when one clears one's throat or gargles, a German consonant or a Hebrew consonant. I can speak a bit of Hebrew and a bit of German, so I can pronounce Schiphol "correctly." I'm awful at Dutch, though.

I referred to the run from a BOS-AMS flight to an AMS-CDG flight leaving at the other side of the airport as the Schiphol Slalom.

Airport Pronunciations
 

All right, so ignoring Schiphol for a moment, how do you pronounce "La Guardia?"

Do you say it, "La-Gwardia", or with the hard "g" and silent "u", as in the word "guard." La-guard-ia?

And what other examples of controversial airport pronunciations are out there?

Wait, I know the answer: Bangkok Suvarnabhumi.

I say it's "So-wanna-poom."



-- Patrick Smith