Schiphol holds major emergency exercise on 19 November

Emergency services will hold a major exercise at Schiphol on Thursday 19 November, training for a scenario involving a major security incident at the airport. It will take place in the secure airside area and focus on an incident involving an aircraft and its immediate surroundings, Schiphol says.

Residents, road users and travellers may see many emergency vehicles on the move during the day, Schiphol says. Specialised police vehicles may travel between locations with blue lights and sirens on. The airport says these movements are part of the planned exercise, not a real incident.

Participants include the police and its Special Interventions Unit, the fire service, ambulance services, the Ministry of Defence, Schiphol, KLM, the Koninklijke Marechaussee (the military police) and the Kennemerland Safety Region, along with other partners.

Although the exercise takes place behind the airport's perimeter fencing, some activity may be visible from public roads. In its announcement, Schiphol says major incidents need many organisations to work together at once, and that practising regularly helps them coordinate, share information faster and respond more effectively in a real emergency.

The exercise was planned with Schiphol, KLM and the emergency services. The airport says every effort is being made to minimise inconvenience to travellers, airport users, residents and daily operations.