The May holiday has begun and Schiphol predicts top crowds. On popular days like today, more than 200,000 people travel to and from the airport. That means not only tackling for staff on the floor, but also behind the scenes.
NH took a look at the KLM Operations Control Center. Delays are monitored there and resolved as much as possible. “Here we have an example of a flight to Malaga that will be delayed for 68 minutes over France,” says Flow Controller Martin Dijkzeul.
To shorten that delay, he lets the plane fly a different route. “You can compare the airspace with the road network. If there is an imaginary traffic jam, you can take a detour,” he explains.
With the planning for busy days like today, airlines have been busy for months. Regional Manager Europe Vincent Hilligers: “We are actually planning the summer timetable in December. Then our central department comes from ‘Gosh, we want to implement these flights to these destinations.” Then we will see if we can do that with the devices and crew that we have. “
NATO summit extra challenge
This summer has an extra challenge: the NATO summit on 24 and 25 June. “That is really a major operation. In the summer it is already maximum pressure for us. Then we actually want to transport as many passengers as possible. One of the runways is used as a parking space and part of the airspace above The Hague is closed. […] Separate plans have to be devised for that one week. “