Schiphol Airport will allow an increased amount of departing passengers starting in early August. As of July, the airport is currently around 67,500 passengers on a given day. Next month, that number is expected to increase to 73,000. On busy days, however, travellers should remain prepared for extreme waiting times and long queues.
“We assume the occupation of the security control. It will be higher from next week,” said an airport spokesperson in conversation with De Telegraaf. The spokesperson cites that, as of now, the airport is facing a serious understaffing crisis. Ticket sales for flights facilitated by KLM, the Netherland’s flagship airline, remain closed in the hopes of providing the ground team, who themselves are understaffed by around 200 people, some “breathing room.”
Despite the increased flow in passengers and a better staffed security checkpoint, problems at Schiphol seem to be far from over. According to the Leeuwarder Courant, passengers travelling on peak days (Monday, Friday, and Sunday) can expect to spend hours in line outside the airport. In preparation for this, Schiphol has decided to leave tents along the queue as cover from the sun.
Arriving at the airport, even several hours in advance, also does not automatically guarantee a place aboard your flight. The NOS reports that one group of six travellers lost around 3000 euro as a result of missing their flight after spending hours in line.
The NL Times cites that Schiphol, following the chaos of the last months, rates highly on CNN’s list of problematic airports. According to data from FlightAware, 41.5 percent of Schiphol’s flights have faced delays since May. Miraculously, Paris’ Charles de Gaulle, and Frankfurt Airport both yielded even higher percentages.
The near future of flights from the Netherlands’ national airport seemingly remains murky. For residents of the northern provinces, frequent flights from our own Eelde Airport are more sorely missed at the moment than ever before.