Schiphol now warns unequivocally that there could be hours of queues in the coming weeks. That also happened on Monday, a spokesperson said. Sometimes there were five-hour lines. “There was less staff than planned and it was a very busy day. In the coming period it will be about as busy as during the May holiday. However, the number of passengers is still below the level of 2019, but because there are not enough hands at the baggage check, not all checkpoints are manned. As a result, it is spilling over into the terminals and beyond.
He continues: “Every day it is a question of supply and demand, which we respond to as best as possible. But at peak times there can be longer waiting times.”
Overcrowded departure halls
Photos of crowded departure halls are circulating on social media and sources report to De Telegraaf that some flights have departed with three hours delay. “There were still passengers at the baggage check,” reports a person directly involved. Airline KLM confirms the long queues. The airlines have been in talks for weeks to find a solution, but KLM says there is no solution yet.
To make matters worse, there is now also a lock on an expensive escape route. Schiphol received numerous requests for Privium, a subscription service that largely avoids long lines. “Many people want to reactivate after corona and we also have a lot of new applications. Due to staff shortages, we can only process a limited number of requests per day. That is quite a process, so there are waiting times.”
Whether that is a matter of weeks or months, the spokesperson cannot say. However, it is a bitter pill for travelers who want to go on holiday in the near future. The May holiday degenerated more than a month ago into an unprecedented mess at the airport. Despite timely warnings from the travel sector, aviation and trade unions, Schiphol was unable to attract enough staff. Things went completely wrong at security, in particular, as a result of which people missed their flights, saw their holiday fall into the water or even became unwell.
Chaos and ‘grim circumstances’
The latter also happened again on Monday, acknowledges the Royal Netherlands Marechausee. “We had to deal with some unwellness,” said a spokesman. A letter from security firm CTSN Group on Monday reported “a very dangerous situation” on Sunday, creating a risk of “mass walkers.” The security staff managed to get the chaos and ‘grim circumstances’ under control, general manager Adan Morik reports in the letter that was seen by De Telegraaf. CTSN could not be reached for comment despite multiple requests.
Especially now that things are going so wrong again, Schiphol CEO Dick Benschop is not at his post. During the May chaos, he was invisible for a week and a half due to a corona infection, this time he is at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the annual meeting of the global business and political elite. Does Benschop have his priorities in order, now that Schiphol is degenerating into chaos again these days? A spokesperson reports in a response that the Schiphol CEO ‘always goes’.