Home » News » Schiphol again scene of ‘very dangerous’ chaos | Inland

Schiphol again scene of ‘very dangerous’ chaos | Inland

Schiphol now warns unequivocally that there could be hours of queues in the coming weeks. That also happened on Monday, a spokesperson said. Sometimes there were five-hour lines. “There was less staff than planned and it was a very busy day. In the coming period it will be about as busy as during the May holiday. However, the number of passengers is still below the level of 2019, but because there are not enough hands at the baggage check, not all checkpoints are manned. As a result, it is spilling over into the terminals and beyond.

He continues: “Every day it is a matter of supply and demand, which we respond to as best as possible. But at peak times there can be longer waiting times.”

Overcrowded departure halls

Photos of crowded departure halls are circulating on social media and sources report to De Telegraaf that some flights have departed with three hours delay. “There were still passengers at the baggage check,” reports a person directly involved. Airline KLM confirms the long queues. The airlines have been in talks for weeks to find a solution, but KLM says there is no solution yet.

To make matters worse, there is now also a lock on an expensive escape route. Schiphol received numerous requests for Privium, a subscription service that largely avoids long lines. “Many people want to reactivate after corona and we also have a lot of new applications. Due to staff shortages, we can only process a limited number of requests per day. That is quite a process, so there are waiting times.”

Whether that is a matter of weeks or months, the spokesperson cannot say. However, for travelers who want to go on holiday in the near future, it is a bitter pill. The May holiday degenerated more than a month ago into an unprecedented mess at the airport. Despite timely warnings from the travel sector, aviation and trade unions, Schiphol was unable to attract enough staff. Things went completely wrong at security, in particular, as a result of which people missed their flights, saw their holiday fall into the water or even became unwell.

Chaos and ‘grim circumstances’

The latter also happened again on Monday, acknowledges the Royal Netherlands Marechausee. “We had to deal with some unwellness,” said a spokesman. A letter from security firm CTSN Group on Monday reported “a very dangerous situation” on Sunday, creating a risk of “mass walkers.” The security staff managed to get the chaos and ‘grim circumstances’ under control, general manager Adan Morik reports in the letter that was seen by De Telegraaf. CTSN could not be reached for comment despite multiple requests.

According to the Marechaussee, no one has been arrested, but security personnel did feel so unsafe that all ‘gates’ had to be closed for a while. That happened when part of those gates had to close and people reacted angrily and started to press. The drummed up Marechaussee managed to calm things down.

Especially now that things are going so wrong again, Schiphol CEO Dick Benschop is not at his post. He was invisible for a week and a half during the May holiday chaos due to a corona infection, this time he is at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the annual meeting of the global business and political elite. A spokesperson reported late on Monday evening that Benschop will return from Switzerland to the Netherlands earlier on Tuesday in connection with the ‘circumstances’ at the airport. According to the spokesman, Benschop did participate remotely on Monday in a consultation about the situation at Schiphol.

On Monday evening, a number of politicians expressed their concern on Twitter. Member of the Senate Henk Otten wonders when Schiphol’s supervisory board will intervene in the ‘mess’. When will the incompetent CEO Benschop be replaced? The airport is a state-owned company. VVD MP Koerhuis calls it ‘unbelievable’ that there are problems again, while the summer holidays have not yet started. Last week, the House of Representatives was supposed to discuss the chaos with Minister Mark Harbers (Infrastructure), but that could not go on because the minister was ill.

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