The long queues at Schiphol, which rose to more than three hours almost daily in recent months, are a thing of the past – perhaps with one exception. That is what Schiphol director Dick Benschop expects, who announced the half-year figures of the airport today. The number of passengers continues to increase, but the risk of chaos in the queue at Schiphol is decreasing, according to Benschop.
The greatest misery at Schiphol started during the May holiday and continued until August: the airport was overrun by millions of travelers who saw their chance to fly again after two years of the corona crisis. There was not enough security personnel to handle the large number of travelers without making them wait in lines for hours.
Meanwhile, 200 new security guards have been hired and the staff is working more hours to cope with the enormous passenger flow. In combination with a limitation on the number of flights and departing passengers, Schiphol has finally succeeded in limiting waiting times.
The tents stay
In general, you don’t have to wait longer than half an hour, director Benschop expects. During the morning peak, this can take up to an hour. Chaos does not exclude Benschop: last Saturday things went wrong again, when fewer security guards showed up than Schiphol had assigned. The tents that are supposed to protect travelers outside will therefore remain standing for the time being.
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Compensation
Travelers who have seen their holiday go up in smoke due to the long queues can claim compensation. Schiphol has now received 2,600 claims and sees an average of 200 compensation requests per day. Today, the first 10 affected travelers will receive their money into their account.
suitcase chaos
The problems in Schiphol’s baggage basement have not yet been resolved. Arriving travelers often wait long or even in vain for their luggage due to airline blunders or problems at the departure airports.
About half of the unused suitcases that are still at Schiphol ended up there via flights that arrived later than their owners. That reunification could take some time, due to the shortage of staff and a cumbersome registration process.