# Schiphol holds major emergency exercise on 19 November

> Police, fire crews, ambulances and the military will train for a major security incident at the airport, and residents may see many emergency vehicles with sirens on.

Society · published 2026-11-09 12:16 · https://nlnow.nl/a/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.

## Background

- **Koninklijke Marechaussee**: The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee is the military police of the Dutch armed forces, part of the Ministry of Defence. Besides military police tasks, it performs policing and security duties in the Netherlands, including border control at airports such as Schiphol.
- **Veiligheidsregio Kennemerland**: The Kennemerland Safety Region is one of the regional partnerships in the Netherlands that bring together the fire service, ambulance services and the regional police, with the municipalities in its area, to prepare for and respond to emergencies and disasters. Safety regions are set up under Dutch law, and the Kennemerland region coordinates these services for its own area.

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