Few airports in the world have six or more runways. Those large airports are therefore located near major cities, such as Chicago and Dallas. Chicago O’Hare has the most: eight jobs, followed by Dallas-Forth Worth (7). Then come Denver, Detroit and… Schiphol, all three of which have six runways. In Airtime we look at all six runways at Schiphol. This time the Kaagbaan.
Just like the Polderbaan, the Kaagbaan is a so-called primary runway. This means that these two runways are preferably used for landing and departing air traffic, because less nuisance is caused compared to the four other runways. Yet there are also regular complaints about the Kaagbaan, for example by residents of the Floriande district in Hoofddorp.
The Kaagbaan is located in a south-westerly/north-easterly direction. Due to nuisance, take-off traffic is only allowed to take off towards the southwest and landings go northeast. Occasionally an exception is made, for example when the wind is blowing hard. In that case, with the permission of air traffic control, aircraft may approach the Buitenveldertbaan or Oostbaan and turn to the Kaagbaan just before landing.
Unique
The Kaagbaan Runway is and will probably remain a unique runway at Schiphol. For a long time, Schiphol reserved land for a second Kaagbaan runway, parallel to the current one. But recently Schiphol director Sondag announced want to put an end to that, to make housing in Haarlemmermeer more possible. Incidentally, the final decision on the second Kaagbaan lies with the minister.
On the Youtube channel of NH Airtime you will find all previous broadcasts and longer uploads of new aircraft, airlines and lounges at Schiphol. NH Airtime is broadcast every Wednesday on the NH television channel at 5:20 pm (with reruns until the following evening).