August 17, 2004
Rotterdam = Amsterdam?

Here is a funny ad for Basiq Air spotted in Norwegian newspaper dagbladet.no:

Having worked in Rotterdam for nearly 2 years and some 8 months in Amsterdam, I can tell you for sure there is

  1. a distance of more than 50 km between the two cities (Rotterdam Airport is 9 km away from Rotterdam, Rotterdam city is 55 km from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport)
  2. Rotterdammers wouldn't particularly like to be called Amsterdammers
This is serious misleading of customers; not unlike Ryanair's labelling of Malmö as Copenhagen...

Any Dutch people out there wanting to comment?

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Comments

True, Amsterdam is not Rotterdam at all. Difference like Washington and NYC. Problem is that all price fighter airlines use this trick. RyainAir says that Charleroi = Brussels, for example. It's a town 50 KM below Brussels!

Posted by: Michiel on August 17, 2004 07:28 PM

Glasgow-Prestwick is actually near Ayr, which is something like 40miles from Glasgow.

Frankfurt-Hahn is next to a few cows in the middle of nowhere. I read somewhere an hours drive from Frankfurt.

London-Luton is in, well, Luton, quite a drive from London.

I think there is also Hamburg-Luebeck, where the two cities are easily 50-60km apart (not sure about this one).

Seems to be accepted procedure now, strange that so many people still fall for it.

Posted by: Armin on August 17, 2004 07:33 PM

Same ad has been used in Denmark and it really stinks.

Was the same with Ryanair and Malmö to Frankfurt - that in reality went to Hahn a long way outside Frankfurt - that route is not in operation any longer - maybe thats what happens when you don't play an honest game...

Posted by: Arne And on August 17, 2004 10:09 PM

Well... but 50-60km, how much is that really. A lot of the new international airports around the world are quite far from downtown as well.

The main airport in Oslo is 52 km from downtown. I believe Milan's main airport Malpensa is about the same distance from downtown, and I am sure there are plenty of these examples.

So maybe distance is not the main problem, but rather infrastructure... (OSL has an express train taking 18 minutes to downtown leaving every 10 minutes during peak hours. It also has a big bus terminal with buses going to most places in the Oslo region.)

Posted by: Ludvig on August 18, 2004 01:48 PM

Sure distance isn't really a problem in most cases, but I still think it's false advertising. Especially if you look at the ones in question here:

Amsterdam has its own airport, as far as I can remember you're in the centre of Amsterdam in next to no time. So why calling Rotterdam (a completely different city!) airport Amsterdam airport?

Glasgow has its own airport, may be 10 miles from the city centre. When you drive from "Glasgow-Prestwick" to Glasgow you actually drive past it. After having driven 30+ miles that is...

Posted by: Armin on August 19, 2004 09:04 PM

Hilarious! :-)

By the way, even though Schiphol is mentioned as "Amsterdam Airport" that one isn't really Amsterdam either *grin*. It is acutally part of Haarlemmermeer and lies close to Amsterdam (20 minutes by train to Amsterdam Central Station) but is not part of Amsterdam.

Posted by: zeebeest on August 19, 2004 09:39 PM

Yes, it is a bit silly. I must admit that I arched an eyebrow when I fist saw Ryan Air calling Torp Airport "Oslo Airport (Torp)" or something like that. That said, I must admit that I, as an Osloer, have got used to a bit of travel to airports, whether Gardermoen or Torp, so the one hour bus trip from Rotterdam Airport to the centre of Amsterdam (I actually flew with Basiq Air to Rotterdam last week, and was satisfied) wasn't that bad. Good roads, comfortable bus and all that. Admittedly, I haven't been to the Netherlands before, so for me the one hour drive was just an extra bit of sightseeing/tourism. I believe that pleasure might fade if traveling by that route frequently...

-- Per

Posted by: Per C. Jorgensen on October 18, 2004 01:44 PM

Does anyone know how long and how much the train costs from Rotterdam Airport to Amsterdam?

Posted by: Jimbo on January 13, 2005 05:27 PM

does anyone now what bus is going from amsterdam bus station to rotterdam airport,and the price?
is there a cheaper way to get to rotterdam airport?

Posted by: maurizio on March 19, 2005 02:09 PM

Tke the train from Amsterdam, or from the Airport Schiphol. Takes about 1 hour. Than take the bus 33 to the airport in Rotterdam. About 15 minutes.
Or the Rotterdam Airport Shuttle from the trainstation in Rotterdam.

check www.ns.nl for time table and prices train.

Posted by: ari on July 28, 2005 02:14 PM

Could anyone tell me how to take the train from Schiphol to Rotterdam, central station? Is it inconvenient with luggage? Is there alternative, inexpensive transport (like a shuttle?)? Thanks for your comments!!

Posted by: Christopher on August 31, 2005 05:17 AM

There are about five direct trains per hour from Schiphol to Rotterdam Central station. It is about an hour. It's not so difficult with luggage because the train station is in the airport building and you can use trolleys. Check out www.ns.nl for rail times (it is also available in English)

Posted by: Majikthijs on September 26, 2005 01:38 PM

After reading the blog notes so far, I noticed one major theme in that everyone is somewhat annoyed in terms of marketing for airport locations. I am currently looking into starting a bus transport service from central areas particular for students, average household income audiences who want to fly cheaply, but maybe do not have a car, and the flights are not available from Schiphol (AMS) airport. I have two questions, and would really appreciate some comments:
1. Do you think that Amsterdam (Schiphol) would be the best pick up place for this type of audience? If not, what other locations would suit you?
2. If I did start a service like this, how much would you be willing to pay?

Any comments/feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Posted by: H.S. on November 11, 2005 12:51 PM

just wondering if anyone knew the fastest way into Amsterdam city from Rotterdam airport??? is it pricey and how often the bus/train service runs??? help on this would be most welcoming!

Posted by: emma on January 8, 2006 11:34 PM
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