Dominic Welling speaks to Joop Krul, the retiring director of strategy and development at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, about his airport city legacy.

They say that by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail, and nobody is more aware of the importance of planning than Joop Krul, the man who came up with the airport city concept.

 

Krul, who retires today (September 28), played an integral part in developing the world's first airport city around the Netherlands hub.

He was brought in 26 years ago to deliver a land development plan that would both prepare the airport for years of significant passenger growth, while also ensuring safety, security and revenues were safeguarded.

The result was the gateway we see today - the first airport city in the world.

 

 

Master Plan

Beginning in 1985 he was asked to come up with a plan for the airport that would accommodate its predicted growth - the 'Master Plan 2000' - which would chart the development of the airport and outline how this project could be financed.

At this time Schiphol Airport handled around 18mppa, however this was expected to grow to 30mppa by 2010.

In fact, according to Krul, when 2010 came around it was more like 40mppa, thanks to the success of an open skies agreement between the US and the Netherlands - the first European country to get such an agreement.

From the master plan that Krul came up with was born the biggest building programme witnessed by Schiphol since the gateway's foundation.

The €6 billion project included the construction of a new terminal 3, a new traffic control tower, a new railway station - Schiphol Plaza - and, of course, the construction of a fifth runway.

This plan also formed the physical and economic basis for what was later called the airport city.

Krul says: "Schiphol was very fast growing at that time so we needed a master plan, we needed an extension to the terminal buildings and to add a new runway, and we needed a new way to finance the plan.

"So we had to find other sources of financing this extension and that's why in 1990 we were the first airport that was making a complete business model out of the airport and its land which is now called an airport city," he explains.

Before this time, all airports relied on their infrastructure: runways, terminals and parking facilities - and of course retail - to earn their revenue.

"We started a complete new business model in which we separated aviation and non-aviation, developed real estate around the airport, and made real business out of non-aviation activities which is now, like most airports, 60% of our total revenues," Krul explains.

Meanwhile, not only did Schiphol develop real estate and non-aviation activities at the airport but, under Krul's leadership, it also teamed up with the government, as well as private banks, and the Schiphol Area Development Company to develop land adjacent to, and outside of, the airport.

'License to grow'

Over the course of his career, Krul believes one of his biggest challenges and one of the most important jobs of being an airport developer and planner, was to obtain and keep the gateway's 'license to grow'.

He says: "It took me a lot of work to realize the master plan, but especially hard work was getting and retaining the license to grow.

"One of the most difficult things for the extension of airport infrastructure is not so much finance, but getting the local support of the community and the support of politicians."

So it became Krul's job to win over the local community surrounding Schiphol, as well as the regional and national government, if the airport wanted to expand any further. And it was one he seemed to be able to do successfully.

He enthuses: "Everyone was amazed that in the 1990s we succeeded in getting a new runway in a country like the Netherlands, and especially at an airport that is very close to a city like Amsterdam which is very densely populated.

"However we managed to get the approval by looking for and receiving local governmental support."

According to Krul there are three main concerns that face every airport in terms of any plans to grow:

Firstly, he says airports must learn how to get and how do keep hold of their license to grow, then they must focus on keeping their main customers satisfied, and finally they must look for new ways to finance any proposed projects.

He says: "Air transport is growing all the time so one of the biggest problems is how to get support and permission to accommodate this growth - such as building new runways and new access ways.

"This is always a time for local communities to rally against the airport, especially those communities who do not get direct benefit from it. So it is important to get support first of all."

To get this support Schiphol takes part in something that is known as the Table of Alders.

Here, the local government, municipalities, regional government, the City of Amsterdam, KLM, Schiphol itself, and all other relevant parties, discuss the issues and work out a solution that suits all their interests.

Krul explains: "We try to continuously negotiate, looking for a balance between what the community wants, what the government thinks might be possible for the future, and what is good for the sector. There is always a big mandate to negotiate, but we always try to get consensus between all parties."

Secondly, Krul adds that airports must always keep their customers satisfied as well - including both airlines and passengers - and this was a big part of his job too.

"Our main customers - the airlines - are still very important and it is always a delicate relationship with your home carrier - in our case KLM - that needs a lot of attention," he says.

Airports are always very dependent on their home carrier because they are intrinsically tied together for growth and strategy.

Meanwhile, according to Krul, the home carrier tends to think that the airport is earning too much money and there is always a "kind of envy" between airlines and airports because the former always consider the latter like a monopoly, which is "too expensive and burns their hard-earned money" .

Krul explains: "This is always a delicate and important relationship. I have put a lot of effort also into our relationship with our home carrier KLM.

"Luckily I can say we have a very good relationship, we think the same about our strategy for the future and our master planning and these kinds of processes.

"There are sometimes quarrels about the taxes and prices of course, but for the long term we are always very close together."

Lastly, airports must constantly consider how they will raise the money for the huge investment they have to do every year, Krul says.

"For an airport like Schiphol, the investments are much higher than we earn from our aviation revenue. That means we are always looking for the balance between aviation and non-aviation."

Achievements

Krul's career at Schiphol has seen him take on a number of important challenges.

The first task was the Master Plan 2000, however, during his time he also set up the Schiphol Area Development Company - which became the first company to exploit the area around the airport especially for real estate and warehouse development.

Meanwhile, preparations had to be done to ensure the gateway would get the necessary license to grow for a fifth runway, and this was "a major milestone" in Krul's career.

He says: "The runway was my major task at Schiphol and came into operation in 2003/4.

"The plan was already on the table in 1980, and we finally got permission from the government in 1995. So, after the master plan one of my major jobs was realizing the government approval for the runway."

In the 1990's Krul's role was general manager of airside and was not only responsible for getting approval for the fifth runway but also for the implementation of a noise and risk management system.

Furthermore, between 1992 and 2002, he was a member and chairman of the Environmental Standing Committee of ACI World, whose mission was the worldwide implementation of new noise rules for new airplanes.

In the last decade Krul has been a member and the chairman of the Policy Committee of ACI Europe - which was set up to advise the board on European matters concerning airports and air transport.

Future of Schiphol

As for the future of the gateway, Krul believes Schiphol has a lot further to grow depending on capacity of the Dutch market for air transport and real estate.

He says: "We are in a very lucky situation and we have done this by planning at a very early stage.

"We are in a situation where we have ample land still. So I don't think land will ever be a restrictive part for our airport to grow and develop. It is more the element of support, and the license to grow. And of course the capacity of the Dutch market for air transport and real estate."

In the final years, Krul's job at Amsterdam Schiphol has been to work on a new master plan.

The new plan, which is awaiting approval by KLM, will include a complete renewal of the terminals and further terminal expansion to handle increased passenger numbers and meet the changing security needs of the future.

Retirement

After such an eventful career, Krul admits that his decision to retire has not come lightly. He says: "I have thought a long time about whether I should do it or not.

"I have decided to retire but I will still stay attached to the business, because I am going to work one or two days a week at the University of Amsterdam in the aviation department, focusing on setting up an airport business."

Krul adds that it has been a career to which he has become addicted.

He says: "I will miss it a lot, I think. Working in the airport and the airline industry, you can get addicted to it, so I need to go to rehab to get over it!"

He adds: "There are not many industries, where you are working in 4 domains simultaneously: the local domain, the global domain, in a public domain, in a private domain.

"And I was in the middle of it all as a strategist and developer for Schiphol."