Heading off on your holibobs this July from Schiphol airport? Are you sure? Have you checked that your flight hasn’t been cancelled? Ok great, but just beware that you have to be super on time — oh and your flight may still be significantly delayed.
How delayed? Well, that depends, but what is for certain is that the “on-time performance” of Schiphol Airport has significantly decreased in light of the recent chaos.
By the end of June, only between 47% and 71% of flights were actually able to land on time at the airport. Departing flights had even worse luck, with only between 23% and 48% taking off on time, the NOS reports.
Delays of up to three hours
On Monday, June 20, those who were able to make it through the long lines at security on time were faced with a second challenge: they had to hit the breaks and wait. For how long? Three hours. ⏱
The rest of the week was slightly better with some lucky ducks only waiting at the gate for approximately one hour and 40 minutes. 🥲
However, this was only the end of June — and now the airport is expected to face one of its busiest months this summer.
Not enough people
And how do they plan on coping? Well, with more staff of course! If they could get any.
The airport is desperately seeking help from outside sources in order to fill the holes in its ranks.
The Royal Netherlands Marechaussee has been asked if they can spare some crumbs and help out. However, according to Minister Mark Harbers of Infrastructure and Water Management, there’s no one to spare, with all Marechaussees fully deployed at the moment.
READ MORE | Dutch pilots offer to help with security at Schiphol to prevent chaos
Even the army has been asked to help. However, they declined as they have no one to spare given the current war in Ukraine.
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