Schiphol Group buys out partners in JFK Terminal 4

NY hub a benefit to Amsterdam

NEW YORK – The operators of Amsterdam's Schiphol international airport are now the sole owner of Terminal 4 at New York's busy JFK airport. The acquisition is the first one in which a non-U.S.A. firm has taken control of a major U.S.A. airport terminal. Schiphol already owned 40 percent of the terminal's shares. Now, for a further 13 million dollars, it has purchased the remaining 60 percent.

Schiphol will be able to charge fees to all airlines wishing to make use of the terminal. In the coming years, the terminal is to be expanded from 16 to 25 gates. The biggest customer will be Delta Air Lines, a partner of Air France-KLM, Schiphol's largest client in Amsterdam.

Airlines aim to move as many passengers as possible through a single airport on one continent to one on another continent. This enables them to take travelers via their own network (hub), or that of an affiliate, to their destination. The Schiphol Group hopes that the acquisition will considerably strengthen Amsterdam as a European hub for the U.S.

Schiphol is Europe’s fifth-largest airport in terms of passengers and the third-largest in cargo. The Schiphol Groups owns and operates Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Rotterdam The Hague Airport, and Lelystad Airport, and is a partner in the Eindhoven Airport. The firm is also active, directly and indirectly, in Australia, Italy, Indonesia, Aruba and Sweden.

In 2008, Schiphol took a strategic eight percent stake in Aéroports de Paris S.A.. Originally state owned, Schiphol Group is structured and run as a commercial enterprise with a socio-economic function.