KLM Non-Schengen Crown Lounge Reopens Following Major Renovation

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines announced the reopening of its non-Schengen Crown Lounge at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam following a top-to-bottom renovation.

The non-Schengen Crown Lounge is located between the E and F piers and features an illuminated glass wall filled with five thousand Delft blue miniature houses.

The 73,195-square-foot (6,800-square-meter) lounge seats 1,000, twice the lounge’s original capacity. The Blue Bar and Restaurant seats an additional 200, and travelers can use their Flying Blue miles there for payment.

Designed in partnership with the architectural firm concrete, the lounge features five landscapes or sections, such as Polder, reminiscent of pastures in the Netherlands, where a 361’ (110 m) LED wall simulates Dutch sky.  The Dutch Mountain section focuses on Dutch design and KLM’s history.

The airline’s Delft blauwe huise, or Delft Blue miniature Dutch houses, stand several inches tall, are filled with jenever, otherwise known as Dutch gin, and depict actual Dutch houses somewhere in the Netherlands.

The miniatures are distributed to business-class passengers shortly before arrival.  KLM has been offering passengers this gift since the 1950s and there are so many that the airline built smartphone apps (iOS and Android) that enable passengers to track which houses they have and see exactly where the house is located in Holland.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)