Military police in the Netherlands have arrested a man armed with a knife at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.

Military police spokeswoman Joanna Helmonds said the man allegedly threatened passers-by on Thursday night before officers detained him. Nobody was injured.

Helmonds says "the investigation is still underway but we do not believe there was a terrorist motive." She says officials declared the airport safe.

A tweet from the airport's account said the man was arrested in a public area with stores, restaurants and several stairways leading down to an underground railway station.