Schiphol has made everyone’s travel plans just a little bit more difficult. The infamous airport has decided to scrap another 17,000 flight paths by the end of the year.
Sadly, the only thing that will take off is the ticket prices of the remaining flights.
Schiphol will shrink down to a mere 483,000 flight paths by this winter, even after cutting 14,500 flight paths in January.
Why, why, why
Why, you might ask (or scream into the void)? Well, according to Hugo Thomassen, Schiphol’s slot coordinator, these are the 17,000 leftover slots for airlines that have recently gone bankrupt, he tells De Telegraaf.
Considering the recent skyrocket in plane ticket prices, and lack of cheap flights, this bankruptcy is hardly a surprise to some of you.
Water prices keep climbing at #Schiphol airport. Over €6,30 a liter. What a scam. #klm #schipholairport #uitzuigers pic.twitter.com/gvZosVah8j— 𝗘𝗻𝗿𝗶𝗰ø👁️ (@erikvanvonderen) June 16, 2021
That’s not all. The scrapped 17,000 paths only make up about 30% of what the government actually intends to get rid of in the near future. By next year, Schiphol only plans to have 440,000 flight paths.
Court to the rescue
However, there is hope — depending on where you stand. A Dutch court recently denied the government’s request to make flight path cuts.
The government appealed that case, but apparently, the verdict won’t arrive in time; the “winter slots” will have been arranged by then. Schiphol won’t have the opportunity to cut more flights until next summer. Mwahaha.
Disastrous effects
What are the consequences of the Dutch government’s cutting plan? After consulting with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), this organisation found that after the plan is fully realised in November 2024, the number of annual passengers would drop by 1.3 million.
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The CEBR also predicts that flights across shorter distances (say, from Schiphol to London Heathrow Airport) could be 25% more expensive. Tragic.
On the other hand, this might keep out the British male tourists on stag trips. That is unless they take the trusty dusty train lines.
And apart from inflating the already-expensive ticket prices, these cuts could lose the country a whopping €13.6 billion per year. Yikes.
What did Schiphol have to say for themselves? “No comment”.
Do you think these cuts are justified? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
