Rotterdam The Hague Airport is taking over eleven flights. Eindhoven Airport has offered to take over a total of eight flights on Saturday and Sunday. Groningen Airport Eelde expects to be able to handle at least sixteen extra flights in the two weekend days.
In Eelde in Drenthe there is room to handle 1 or 2 extra flights per hour for a short period. “That comes down to 8 to 16 flights a day,” explains a spokeswoman for Groningen Eelde Airport. Space is more limited in Eindhoven because it is already busy there due to the May holidays.
Maastricht Aachen Airport also has room to take over flights from Schiphol, but cannot yet name concrete numbers. According to a spokeswoman, it is more about ‘a few than dozens of flights’.
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Can’t be ruled out
Schiphol wants to prevent unmanageable crowds and is consulting with airlines about a solution, with the emphasis on rescheduling flights. The airport is struggling with staff shortages in security and handling baggage and passengers. Last weekend, Schiphol asked airlines to cancel bookings so that the departure halls would not be overcrowded. Dozens of flights were cancelled. That is not yet on the agenda for next weekend, although the airport did not want to rule it out completely either.
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How much Schiphol will have to intervene in the flight schedule this weekend is still a subject of discussion with the airlines. “We will agree that on the basis of the latest numbers,” says the spokesperson. “This May holiday, an average of 174,000 travelers per day will travel via Schiphol and it is relatively busier on weekends.” Schiphol also asked airlines last week not to take any new bookings between 2 May and 8 May.
Travel organizations TUI and Corendon have announced that they have not yet received a request from Schiphol to take another look at the flight schedule. However, the organizations have already moved some flights scheduled for this weekend to Rotterdam The Hague Airport. Passengers have been informed about this.
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