The crowds at Schiphol were ‘manageable’ again on Sunday, according to the airport. At the start of the day it was ‘really crazy’, an employee at the airport said earlier. Later there were also much quieter moments. In the end everything went well, a spokeswoman for the airport indicates.
Around 6 p.m. there was no longer a lot of crowds at the airport. The long lines at the check-in counters, security checks and baggage claim in the arrivals hall were all but gone. Also, as far as is known, no one has been checked for the new policy whereby people are not allowed to enter the departure hall earlier than four hours before departure of their flight. There are, however, still some delayed and canceled flights on the departure boards.
The airport has been suffering for weeks from a structural staff shortage in, among other things, security and handlers. As a result, passengers often queue for hours. The airport is now working on solutions to the problems. But that could not prevent the situation from getting out of hand again on Saturday. KLM was forced to de to cancel flights of passengers on 42 aircraft, which flew empty from European destinations to Schiphol. Earlier, the airline already decided to cancel up to fifty flights a day during the Whitsun weekend to avoid problems.
KLM is still working to get all travelers stranded on Saturday back on their way. It is not yet certain whether that will be possible on Sunday. According to KLM, the intervention was necessary because there was a concurrence of factors at Schiphol. For example, the wind was wrong at the end of the day on Saturday and one of the runways at Schiphol is currently undergoing major maintenance. Work has been going on on the Aalsmeerbaan since April. According to Schiphol’s schedule, this will be out of use until mid-July. There will also be work this week on the taxiway that lies between the Kaagbaan and the Aalsmeerbaan.
Free unlimited access to Showbytes? Which can!
Log in or create an account and never miss a thing from the stars.