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Top European airports revealed — but Schiphol didn’t make the cut

The people of the world have given their ratings, and it looks like Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport is ranking lower than ever before. 

Website Vliegveldinfo.nl has compiled Google ratings about the hundred busiest airports in Europe, and Schiphol has found itself in the unsettling rank of 39th place

Schiphol strikes again

After a summer full of insane chaos at the airport, the largest Dutch airport seems to have only declined in the autumn months. 

Now ranked with a solid 4 stars, Schiphol is at the same level as Heathrow Airport in London, Madrid in Spain and Zaventem in Brussels.

Of course, Schiphol’s ranking could be worse. Eindhoven Airport, the second-busiest airport in the Netherlands, has ranked with 3.8 stars and is in 70th place on the rankings.

Beat out by Zurich

Zurich, Athens, and Porto scored the highest out of all the European airports, scoring a total of 4.4 stars each.

And at the bottom? Manchester in the UK with 2.9 stars, Heraklion in Greece with 2.7 stars, and Bordeaux in France, which landed a total of 2.6 stars. 

Formerly known as one of the best airports in Europe, major staffing shortages at Schiphol have led to the airport’s ratings dropping. 

READ MORE | Leave those bags; Schiphol cancels more flights due to security shortage

Recently, one-star reviews have become more and more common, with customers writing things like, “If you like real, deep-seated customer hatred, this is really the place to be.” 

Plane delays, low wages, and deserting CEOs

Schiphol Airport has become, let’s be honest, a bit of a joke in the last few months. 

Even Dick Benschop, former CEO, was able to see the chaos he’d caused, and guess what he did? Jumped ship! (or plane 😉) 

But why would he quit? 

Well, maybe because the airport ranked as the fourth-worst airport for delays this summer. No surprise to us, seeing as over the summer, a grand total of 16,000 bags were left unclaimed due to shortages of bag handling staff. 

The same staff, by the way, who reported recently just how terrible conditions are in the baggage basement at Schiphol. 

READ MORE | Chaos reignites at Schiphol as workers’ summer wage increase expires

Plus, due to staff shortages (because really, who would want to work in such chaos?), Schiphol has planned to cancel up to 18% of its departing flights through all of autumn. 

The flight slashing will continue until March 2023, with the airport capping the number of passengers passing through at 50,000 per week

Perhaps it’s time to consider taking the train instead? 😬

What do you think of the airport’s rankings? Tell us your thoughts in a comment below!

Feature Image:Depositphotos
Heather Slevin
Heather Slevin
Heather is a Dublin native, addicted to catching the Luas, the Irish version of a tram, for one stop, and well used to the constant rain and shine. Seeking to swap one concrete city for another (with a few more canals and a friendlier attitude to cyclists) here she is with the Dutch Review! As a Creative Writing student, she can usually be found sweating over the complicated formatting of her latest poem or deep inside the pages of a book, and loves writing, writing, writing.

1 COMMENT

  1. Downright scandalous! You laid off so many workers during Covid, with no plan whatsoever to cope once the pandemic ended. The chaos over the last year is a direct result of your incompetence! And for the Dutch Government- What are your plans to woo tourists again after this debacle??

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