World’s first airport park opens in Amsterdam

We’ve recently seen numerous innovations designed to ease the tedium of pre-flight waiting. Take the ebook library at Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport, for example. This morning Schiphol airport in Amsterdam launched their own effort, with the world’s first airport park. The park consists of a large interior space as well as an outdoor terrace for when the weather is fine. The indoor area of the park is designed to replicate the feeling of an outdoor space, with butterflies projected on to the walls and floors, and with sounds such as bicycle bells, animals and playing children filling the air. Surrounding a once-threatened 130 year-old tree, the park features a number of loungers and wire frame and ivy chairs for travelers to relax in, as well as the Park Café, serving fresh juices, organic coffee and hamburgers. Around the periphery of the park there are power points for travelers to charge electronic devices such as laptops, and there is the option to charge mobile phones by pedaling one of the energy generating bicycles. To boost its eco-credentials, the airport uses LED lighting wherever possible, with natural light also entering the park through fiber optic cables and tube lighting. As airports continue to be a hotspot for innovation, there are plenty of lessons to be to be applied anywhere that consumers are forced to wait – take note and be inspired! (Related: Portland airport installs bike assembly station for travellers — Singapore airport’s four-storey slide rewards duty-free spending.)