Travel industry: count on longer lines in the summer

The travel sector fears that the peak crowds at Schiphol last weekend were just a taste of what the Dutch holidaymaker can expect this summer. Tour operators anticipate even greater crowds for the summer holidays, but say they can mean little as long as Schiphol does not have the situation with its staff in order.

Last weekend, holidaymakers queued for hours at Amsterdam airport – which stretched beyond the departure hall. The fire brigade handed out bottles of water to the waiting families with their suitcases. A number of flights departed later, and a few missed their flight. The long lines were due to staff shortages at Schiphol, especially in baggage handling and passenger control.

It was not that the tour operators did not see the crowds coming, says Frank Oostdam, director of the umbrella organization of travel organizations ANVR. “We already knew in January how busy it would be during the May holidays. Schiphol should have arranged this on time, and due to errors in the planning, that did not happen.” In the same way, he could already see things go wrong this summer. After many family vacations were canceled in the past two summers due to the corona crisis, many people want to make up for their missed trips this summer. Oostdam: “According to our first estimate, we will reach the passenger numbers of 2019 again. And that is more than during the May holiday. We take longer queues into account, if nothing changes.” In 2019, the last full year before the corona pandemic, the airport saw almost 72 million passengers arriving or departing, of whom 13.5 million in July and August†

Around the table

This summer, therefore, even more passengers are expected than last weekend, albeit for a longer period. Still, the big question is whether Schiphol will be ready in time. Tour operators have announced that they want to meet with the Schiphol board next week, as soon as the worst is over. Airport management is asked how they want to prevent it from becoming so busy again in the summer. A quick solution does not seem to be available; Several sectors are currently experiencing significant staff shortages. Travel organizations TUI, Corendon, Sunweb and Vakantiediscounter indicate that they want to contribute ideas, but all state that the assistance options available to them as travel organizations are limited. Other than calling on travelers to check in online and get to the airport on time, there isn’t much the tour operators can do.

Flights departing from other airports could also be, albeit limited. For TUI, which flies with its own aircraft, Brussels or Rotterdam-The Hague Airport could be an alternative, a spokesperson said. „But there too we are bound to a limited number of slots [tijdsloten voor vertrekken en landen], so we can’t fall back on that indefinitely. The core of this remains the same: Schiphol must solve this problem. They offer their service – for which they pay dearly – and will therefore also have to deliver. There are no more people flying than in other years, and the airport is made for this kind of passenger volume.”

In the talks with the airport, even more points will be discussed, including communication from Schiphol. That this left something to be desired became clear on Saturday 23 April, when a wild strike by KLM ground staff meant that no more baggage was going to the KLM planes. 110 flights were canceled that day. Schiphol called on people not to come to the airport anymore – to the dismay of tour operators such as TUI and Corendon. “We just called on: do come to Schiphol, because we have our own baggage handling,” said the TUI spokesperson. “Our flights just went.”

Call centers maxed out

What also did not help, the operators say, was Schiphol’s attempt to ban 5,800 travelers last weekend by requesting airlines to cancel flights. Holidaymakers phoned worried whether their flight would depart. “Fortunately, our partner airlines Vueling and Transavia refused to comply, so that in the end everyone arrived at the holiday destination,” says a spokesperson for Sunweb – which has no aircraft itself and depends on airlines. An advantage of this is that Sunweb was able to act quickly this weekend: “We have used our call centers to the maximum to inform as many customers as possible. In this way, even two flights could depart via Rotterdam-The Hague Airport, because we got hold of everyone on time.”

Besides the fact that the long wait is annoying for holidaymakers, ANVR director Frank Oostdam fears a more structural problem for his sector if the situation at the airport does not improve. “All this hassle is causing Schiphol’s image to flake off, and that may make people reluctant to book trips. As a sector, we had a wonderful revival after the corona crisis. People want to go abroad en masse, then it is a shame to see that they have to start their holiday like this.”

Although there is a lot of chagrin in the travel industry, which wants to run full again after two lean corona years, Oostdam emphasizes that constructive talks will be held with the Schiphol management. “We have a strong relationship with Schiphol. As in any good marriage, you may be mad at each other, but you can’t stay mad. That’s not productive either.”