Van Dommelen History of a transporter

1953 – Whereas the South West of the Netherlands is enduring the consequences of the flood disaster, in the village of Nieuwer Amstel – halfway between Amsterdam and Schiphol – 26 year old Henk van Dommelen decides to spend some borrowed money on the purchase of a car. He settles himself as driving instructor but soon many fellow villagers appear to appreciate his comfortable vehicle to bring them to places in the neighborhood, like Schiphol. The railway station is closed some years earlier and the only remaining public traffic are the buses of Maarse & Kroon.

Around 1950: A bus of Maarse & Kroon on a characteristic country road somewhere near Schiphol

There is much expansion around Van Dommelen. Amsterdam at less than 20 km is shooting up, and so does the flower auction at Aalsmeer which is quickly becoming the largest in the world. Nearby, at Schiphol airport, more and more air passengers are coming and going. After an hours or days long flight there is nothing they appreciate more than being brought to their destinations swift as an arrow. Who is better able to do so than Van Dommelen who almost lives at Schiphol and is ready at ungodly hours to pick them up or bring them home?

Schiphol in the 60’s. Jet planes like this brand-new KLM DC-8 bring in unprecedented numbers of passengers, many of whom wish to be brought home by taxi

Young Van Dommelen stops his driving school and applies himself to taxi transportation. Things were not against him. The mayor likes being driven by him in his comfortable car and so do the other local dignitaries. The managers of Van Leer’s Vatenfabriek want be brought to Schiphol by Van Dommelen only. Executive transport before the term existed. Soon Van Dommelen has to buy more cars, certainly when also KLM-crews rely on his services more often. Many crewmembers only reached boarding closure time at Schiphol thanks to Van Dommelen’s driving skills.

Also the municipality Nieuwer Amstel is rapidly growing. More and more well-to-do people from Amsterdam settle in Van Dommelen’s village that gradually loses its rural character and becomes an Amsterdam suburb. In 1964 the name is changed in Amstelveen. More people imply more work, all the more since Van Dommelen also cares for the transport at marriage and funeral ceremonies. There are very few branches where life and death are so close.

Amsterdam in the middle of the 60’s. Traffic intensity grows. A beer cart with two horses is still an everyday phenomenon

The development of air transportation creates a new kind of passenger: the businessman, later also –woman, who preferably does a few meetings a day and flies back home in the evening. He brings a new adage: time is money. Almost from behind his window Henk van Dommelen can see them coming and going at Schiphol. These are no passengers who are willing to waste their valuable time in public traffic. When the plane lands their vehicle must stand ready to bring them quick and comfortably to everywhere they want to be. Executive or business class transportation is born. Van Dommelen's fleet of taxi's is extended with limousines driven by first class chauffeurs for executive transport which follow the passenger like a shadow. For greater companies there come luxury buses and coaches.

In the 60’s of the past century a new type of passenger surfaces: the international businessman who arrives at Schiphol in the morning and wants to be back home in the evening

The demand for mobility is not limited to business people. Beside the need for taxi and executive transportation also the call for transportation of school children and disabled people increases. Travel agencies are continuously looking for bus and coach capacity to move the growing flow of tourists, fair and congress visitors who enter the country via Schiphol. Henk van Dommelen has then (1989) already passed on the management of the company to Paul Oosting who makes Van Dommelen bv a modern company in which all these transportation specialties are accommodated. In the first decade of the 21st century the garage is filled with dark blue and black limousines for executive transport, the taxi’s and vans well known from the city scenery and luxury buses and coaches for the transportation of companies.