If you have a flight booked for a vacation in May, Schiphol says to wait a minute. Why? The Easter holidays will see a slight change at the airport.
Schiphol has announced restrictions once again, this time to limit the number of departing passengers during the April and May holiday period.
As a result, passenger numbers will be slashed by 5%, reports NU.nl.
So, what’s the plan?
According to Schiphol, this new measure will apply from the end of March to mid-May. Travellers are warned: the airport’s busiest hours will be in the morning from 6 AM to 1 PM. So perhaps avoid booking that early-bird flight!
By setting a passenger limit, the airport hopes to reduce the risk of “unacceptable delays for travellers at check-in, security check, and passport control,” reports a spokesperson for Schiphol.
I love waking up to an e-mail where KLM tells me they’ve cancelled my flight from Amsterdam to Copenhagen. I mean they’ve found a new one, but now I have 10 hours to kill in Schiphol airport lol
— Katja🏳️🌈 (@applessquabble) February 21, 2023
Additionally, the number of seats that can be booked will be limited. Wait, what?
Yep. This means that airlines will either restrict the number of seats they can sell, or they will have to move flights to other airports, choose to fly with fewer full aircraft or even cancel flights. (Cue flashbacks to last year’s chaos.)
Not the first time — but hopefully, the last
Schiphol hasn’t had the best of luck in the past. At the beginning of February, the airport announced another possible limitation of the number of daily travellers due to staff shortage.
Last year, the airport faced huge delays as passenger numbers doubled in 2022 due to people wanting to travel again after the coronavirus. This was also a result of staff shortages, mismanagement, and flight cancellations.
READ MORE | Schipol airport failed miserably in 2022
This time around, however, the airport has seen an improvement compared to last year. Chairman Marnix Fruitema, BARIN (board of airline representatives in The Netherlands) stated that a maximum of five thousand fewer seats sold per day would be “reasonably manageable.”
Let’s hope that our Easter holidays will go through. 🐣
What do you think about Schiphol wanting to limit passengers? Tell us in the comments below!