Live wind and weather at Schiphol, and how the wind lines up with the airport's six runways: headwind and crosswind for every runway end, with a map of the airfield and a way to try your own wind.
Polderbaan 18R/36L (3,800 m) · Kaagbaan 06/24 (3,500 m) · Buitenveldertbaan 09/27 (3,450 m) · Aalsmeerbaan 18L/36R (3,400 m) · Zwanenburgbaan 18C/36C (3,300 m) · Oostbaan 04/22 (about 2,000 m, mainly general aviation and helicopters)
Schiphol has two official, free spotter zones: the Polderbaan, at the end of IJweg, and the Buitenveldertbaan, in the McDonald's car park in Schiphol-East. The Panorama Terrace on the terminal roof is free too. Which is best depends on the runway in use, so check the wind on this page and Schiphol's runway information first.
Read the Schiphol plane-spotting guide
Wind and weather come from KNMI 10-minute observations and NOAA METARs. The map shows how the wind lines up with each runway; it is not the runway plan, because which runways are in use is decided by air traffic control (LVNL) and depends on noise rules, traffic and maintenance as well as wind. Runway coordinates are from OurAirports, the base map is © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), and names and lengths are from Schiphol. AeroGaze is an independent site, not affiliated with Schiphol or LVNL.
Six. Five long runways handle international traffic: the Polderbaan (18R/36L), Kaagbaan (06/24), Buitenveldertbaan (09/27), Aalsmeerbaan (18L/36R) and Zwanenburgbaan (18C/36C). The sixth, the shorter Oostbaan (04/22), is used mainly for general aviation, private jets and helicopters.
That is decided by air traffic control (LVNL), not by AeroGaze, so this page doesn't claim to know. Schiphol says two runways are in use at any time, one for arrivals and one for departures, with a third or fourth added at busy times. Aircraft land and take off into the wind as much as possible, so the map on this page shows how today's wind lines up with each runway. For the official picture, see Schiphol's own page on flight paths and runway use.
The number is the runway's compass heading divided by 10, so 18 points south (180°), 36 north, 09 east and 27 west. A letter (L, C or R for left, centre or right) tells parallel runways apart. Each runway has two ends whose numbers differ by 18, such as 18R and 36L.
The Polderbaan (18R/36L) in the north-west, about 3,800 m long and 60 m wide. It is the longest and widest of Schiphol's runways.
It runs east to west, so a strong wind from the south-west blows across it rather than along it. When the crosswind gets too strong, aircraft are not allowed to land there and air traffic control uses other runways instead.
From KNMI, the Dutch weather service: 10-minute observations at Schiphol Airport, refreshed every few minutes, plus the latest METAR from the NOAA Aviation Weather Center. The headwind and crosswind for each runway end are calculated from that wind and the runway headings.