The first rays of sunshine have arrived! Almost vacation. Autoblog investigated how (un)safe parking is at Dutch airports.
Last week we were startled by the brutal theft of the Mazda CX-5 from the parents of this Autoblog scribe. Just from P1 of Eindhoven Airport. With license plate registration, the thief drove out straight away. That's why we asked ourselves: is it still safe to park your car at our Dutch airports during your upcoming holiday?
Time for a piece of hard-hitting investigative journalism from your favorite blog. We took to the pen and telephone and spoke to everyone who matters at our national airports, including the Royal Military Police. Here are our findings.
Eindhoven Airport
It may not be logical to start here, but because this Brabant airport was the reason, we first went to the City of Light. Now the second airport in our country, so not unimportant.
Entering the official parking facilities at Eindhoven Airport is done using license plate recognition. There is no option to draw a ticket and this was chosen for convenience. But how could it be otherwise, also because of the environment. The fact that malicious parties can simply drive outside is an annoying side issue that, looking at the numbers, does not yet outweigh the benefits.
The parking lots at Eindhoven airport are all equipped with camera surveillance and the images relevant to a possible investigation are shared with the Marechaussee. In addition, both airport staff and the Royal Military Police regularly make service and security rounds.
If you leave earlier than booked, no alarm bells will ring, as that is not possible in practice, according to the airport spokesperson. It is not up to Eindhoven Airport to actively monitor when who enters and exits. This also violates the privacy of the parkers.
Then the hard figures. Last week's travelers were simply very unlucky, because according to the Marechaussee they were the first victims this year. In 2023, the Marechaussee registered two car thefts at Eindhoven Airport.
Schiphol
Our national and largest airport. Here too, entry and exit is regulated by means of license plate registration. If you pay in advance, the barrier for long-term parking will also open here if you want to leave earlier. According to the airport itself, this is also experienced as pleasant by customers.
An alternative is possible at Schiphol, which is also environmentally conscious because there is no paper ticket involved. At our national airport it is possible to reserve a parking space using your credit card as an identifier. Then you can only enter and exit if you have the correct credit card.
The parking facilities at Schiphol Airport have 24-hour surveillance, both with cameras and staff. There are also alarm poles in the parking lots where you can report a suspicious situation at the touch of a button. On the other side of that button is a living person 24/7.
The car theft figures at Schiphol are not surprisingly higher than at Brabant airport. Many more cars park at Schiphol every year than at Eindhoven Airport. So far this year, six cars have been stolen, according to figures from the Royal Military Police. Two in 2023 and if we go back a little further, 2020 stands out, where 9 thefts were registered.
Rotterdam The Hague Airport
A third airport can be found just a stone's throw from our editorial office. By the way, all three airports are owned by Schiphol, so you would expect that much is arranged in the same way.
How exactly Sixteenhoven We don't know where Rotterdam The Hague Airport is located, because the spokesperson in charge of parking policy is currently on a long holiday… Let's just hope that his car is still in the booked parking space when he returns.
We do have figures. Much fewer flights here, so also fewer people parking. No car has been stolen yet this year, according to figures from the Royal Military Police. Last year 1 traveler was the loser.
This is how (un)safe parking is at Dutch airports
Well, that's not disappointing at all. We can't actually put it any better than the KMar itself communicated it to us.
Car theft is very rare compared to the large number of parked cars at airports. However, every theft is one too many.
Conclusion Royal Military Police
The Royal Military Police has police duties at the airports, so this is the appropriate place to report it if you have been victimized by a car theft at the airport. However, it is not mandatory to report this immediately, so there is a possibility that the figures are not complete. But in absolute numbers we can conclude that parking at Dutch airports is safe.
However, it doesn't hurt if you have one under the crooks popular car like the Mazda CX-5 or Toyota RAV4 drives to have an extra immobilizer or a physical restriction (for example a Bearlock or something similar) installed. In addition, we would use our credit card as an identifier when booking long-term parking at Schiphol. Just an extra bit of security.
Photo: Porsche GT3 RS at Schiphol via Autoblog Spots. Spotter: @meijer
This article This is how (un)safe parking is at Dutch airports first appeared on Autoblog.nl.
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