Schiphol prepares for another busy weekend, says flights may be canceled

When the May holidays end, Schiphol Airport is preparing for another busy weekend. Other Dutch airports have offered to help everyone they can, but airport officials have been able to rule out the possibility that airlines may be asked to cancel some flights.

Schiphol prepares for the crowd as the May holidays come to an end

Children from the Netherlands return to school on Monday, which means that this weekend hundreds of families will take a flight and go home. During school holidays, Schiphol Airport has struggled to keep up with the number of passengers as the airport continues to face severe staff shortages following the coronavirus pandemic as a result of disputes over wages and employment contracts.

Last weekend, Schiphol made a controversial decision to ask the airline to cancel some weekend flights to reduce the number of passengers compared to what was to become another weekend of long queues and chaos. A week later, the airport management refused to confirm whether it will happen again or not. “At the moment it is impossible to answer this question in black and white, yes or no,” said one of the spokesmen.

A KLM spokesman said Schiphol had asked the airline to consider changes to its schedule this weekend, and TUI and Corendon had decided to redirect some flights to Rotterdam. Other Netherlands airports, including Rotterdam-The Hague airport, Groningen Elde airport and Eindhoven airport, have offered at least 35 flights this weekend to take off the pressure.

Thousands of travelers are demanding compensation

Passengers flying through Schiphol have faced severe delays and long queues over the past two weeks, and thousands of holidaymakers have already filed their compensation claims at the airport after their flights were canceled or delayed. After the KLM bikers announced a strike on April 23, consumer rights organizations Aviclaim and EUclaim received about 5,000 requests.

Airport officials are now negotiating with various unions to settle current disputes with workers and eliminate the current staff shortage. Schiphol CEO Dick Benshop has also announced that the airport is looking for ways to avoid the same problems that arise during the busy summer months.