A Guide to Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM)

Rotterdam The Hague Airport is what Schiphol cannot be: small, calm, and fast. It is a single-terminal regional airport on the northern edge of Rotterdam, serving both cities in its name, with the kind of walking distances where aircraft-to-kerb takes about as long as finding the right pier does at a major hub. For travellers based in the Rotterdam and The Hague region, it is frequently the better airport, when it flies where you need to go.

This guide covers the terminal and its limits, getting into both cities, the airport’s business aviation side (where SilverDrive works with the Jet Aviation FBO), and what an RTM airport transfer looks like in practice.

The Quiet Alternative to Schiphol

The airport’s appeal is arithmetic. At Schiphol you budget for the scale of the place: long walks, deep security queues at peak, and a building that processes tens of millions of passengers a year. At Rotterdam The Hague, the entire passenger operation fits in one compact terminal. Check-in, security, gates and reclaim sit within a few minutes’ walk of each other.

Arriving, this means you can plausibly be in the car fifteen minutes after wheels-down on a Schengen flight. Departing, it means the advice to arrive three hours early simply does not apply here in the way it does at a hub, though peak-morning departures still deserve a margin, because a small building has small buffers too.

The trade-off is the route map. Traffic is led by Transavia, flying leisure and city routes around Europe, with a schedule that shifts by season. Check the airport’s site for what is current. If your destination is served, the case for RTM over Schiphol is strong. If it is not, we drive the Schiphol run from Rotterdam daily; it takes about 45 minutes to an hour on the A13 and A4.

Getting from Rotterdam Airport to the City

Despite the double-barrelled name, the airport sits on Rotterdam’s side of the map. The drive from Rotterdam airport to the city centre takes about 15 minutes via the A13, one of the shortest airport runs in the country. The Hague is the longer leg: roughly 20 kilometres and 25 to 30 minutes in normal traffic, with Delft conveniently between the two.

Public transport exists but is indirect. There is no railway station at the airport; a city bus connects the terminal to a light-rail stop, where you change onto the metro network. It works, and it is cheap, but it turns a 15-minute journey into a multi-stage one, an odd penalty at an airport whose entire point is speed.

Destination	Approximate drive time
Rotterdam centre	About 15 minutes
Delft	About 15 minutes
The Hague centre	25 to 30 minutes
Port of Rotterdam offices	20 to 30 minutes depending on area
Schiphol Airport	45 to 60 minutes
Antwerp	About 1 hour 15 minutes

A chauffeur keeps the airport’s arithmetic intact: kerb-to-car in minutes, then one uninterrupted drive to the door. On a fixed price agreed at booking, with no meter and no surge, the short runs are as clean as the long ones.

Kerb-to-Car: How a Pickup Works Here

RTM is the easiest pickup in our Dutch network, and we treat it accordingly. We track your flight free of charge, so the chauffeur is positioned for the actual landing, not the scheduled one. They wait in the arrivals area with a name board (in a terminal this size, you will see it almost as soon as you clear reclaim), and the car is a short walk from the door.

The whole sequence, from aircraft to moving on the A13, is regularly under twenty minutes. That speed is why frequent flyers from the region guard this airport jealously: it returns an hour of the day that a hub consumes.

All of it runs on SilverDrive’s standard terms: our own fleet, never brokered; screened, English-speaking chauffeurs; 24/7 availability; and one fixed figure at booking. For a single traveller the S-Class is the default; for delegations and families the V-Class takes seven with luggage.

Business Aviation and the Jet Aviation FBO

Rotterdam The Hague punches above its weight in private aviation. Alongside the scheduled traffic, the airport hosts a substantial business aviation operation, including the Jet Aviation FBO, a dedicated facility that handles private flights entirely apart from the passenger terminal, with its own handling, lounge and crew services.

SilverDrive works with the Jet Aviation FBO in Rotterdam. In practice that means a private aviation client is met at the facility (or planeside, where the handling arrangements allow it) and driven off the airport without ever entering the public terminal. Arrivals and departures are coordinated with the FBO directly, so the car’s timing follows the aircraft’s actual movements, not an estimate.

For principals flying privately into the Randstad, RTM is often the smarter field than Schiphol: less traffic, simpler slots, and a shorter drive to Rotterdam or The Hague. Combined with a chauffeur service that already knows the FBO’s procedures, the ground leg stops being a separate project. The same discretion applies when the cargo matters more than the passenger. Our secure courier work runs through the same infrastructure.

Who This Airport Suits Best

Three traveller profiles get the most from RTM. First, Rotterdam and The Hague residents flying point-to-point in Europe, for whom the local airport beats an hour on the A13 before the journey even starts. Second, business visitors to the port, the courts and ministries in The Hague, or the Rotterdam corporate cluster, arriving twenty minutes from the meeting rather than seventy. Third, private aviation clients using the FBO.

For companies in the region with a steady flow of visitors, our corporate transport puts RTM, Schiphol and cross-border pickups on one account with consistent cars and drivers. The same-chauffeur policy on multi-day bookings matters here: a visitor doing Rotterdam on Tuesday and The Hague on Wednesday keeps one driver who already knows the itinerary.

Frequently Asked Questions

How big is Rotterdam The Hague Airport?

Small, by design. It is a single-terminal regional airport with a handful of gates and short walking distances throughout. From aircraft to kerb is often ten to fifteen minutes. That compactness is its main advantage over Schiphol for travellers based in Rotterdam or The Hague.

How do I get from Rotterdam airport to the city?

By car, central Rotterdam is about 15 minutes away via the A13. There is no railway station at the airport; public transport means a city bus to a light-rail stop and a change onto the metro. A chauffeur transfer removes both changes and is priced as one fixed figure agreed at booking.

How far is Rotterdam The Hague Airport from The Hague?

Roughly 20 kilometres. The drive takes about 25 to 30 minutes in normal traffic, mostly along the A13 towards Delft and onward. Despite the name, the airport sits on Rotterdam’s northern edge, so The Hague is the longer of the two city runs.

Does the airport handle private jets?

Yes. Rotterdam The Hague has a significant business aviation presence, including the Jet Aviation FBO, which handles private flights away from the passenger terminal. SilverDrive works with the FBO, so private aviation clients can be met at the facility, or planeside where arranged, rather than at the public arrivals door.

Is flying via Rotterdam better than Schiphol?

For travellers based in Rotterdam, Delft or The Hague, often yes, if a route exists. The airport is minutes from home, queues are short, and arrival-to-car is fast. The route network is much smaller than Schiphol’s, so the honest trade is convenience against choice. When the destination is served, RTM usually wins.

Where does a SilverDrive chauffeur wait at RTM?

In the arrivals area of the terminal with a name board, positioned for your actual landing time. We track every flight free of charge. The terminal is small enough that you will see the board within moments of leaving baggage reclaim, and the car is parked a short walk away.

Book Your RTM Transfer

An airport built for speed deserves a ground leg to match. Send the flight number (scheduled or private) plus your destination and passenger count, and we return one fixed price. FBO coordination is arranged at booking for private aviation clients. Book your Rotterdam The Hague pickup.