Many holidaymakers still do not know whether their flight from Schiphol will take place soon. Not even everyone who wants to leave in July has clarity yet. And there is certainly no certainty about August. This is because Schiphol came late with the limitation of the number of travelers and the consequences for the airlines and travel organizations are still only partly known. So they still have a puzzle to solve.
“We assume that people who go on holiday in July will know where they stand next week at the latest. For holidays in August, that will be at the beginning of July,” Frank Oostdam, director of travel organization ANVR, told NU.nl.
This is because for that month it is not yet known which airline has to give up how many seats per day. For July, the busiest month, this is now clear and known to the parties involved. But then the airlines and tour operators still have to figure out how to implement this in practice.
For example, flights can be moved to a different location or time or be cancelled.
In July, 755,000 seats from Schiphol will be cancelled. “Some of it has been sold, some not yet,” says Oostdam. It may even be the case that new trips are still being sold, while others see their holidays go up in smoke.
It also matters who you booked with
Where you have booked the trip also determines when you hear something. Travelers who have booked directly with Transavia already know where they stand, at least for the flights until mid-August. But anyone who has booked a holiday at a travel agency and flies with Transavia is not always aware of this.
Tour operators that also have their own aircraft, such as Corendon and TUI, can assure customers that these flights will continue. Corendon was quick to move flights to Rotterdam. “If people fly from there, we also arrange transport there and back for them,” says Corendon CEO Steven van der Heijden.
TUI has also moved flights. But when all parties will hear whether and which flights should be canceled before August, nobody knows yet. “We do not rule out the possibility that we will have to cancel more,” said Transavia. It is not yet known which and how many easyJet flights will expire for both July and August.
“We are now seeing the sale of air travel falling,” says Oostdam of the ANVR. “People avoid Schiphol and prefer to take the car. So we suffer damage not only from the trips that have been canceled, but also from trips that we can no longer even sell.”
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