Paying Fines At Schiphol

More and more travelers must first pay an outstanding fine at Schiphol before they can board the plane. Some of them are not able to do that miss their flight, confirmed a spokesman for the Royal Military Police (Marechaussee) on Friday. In the first half of this year the marechaussee cashed nearly 450,000 euro and that is 20 percent more than in the same period last year. Last year they cashed a total of about 1.2 million euro at Schiphol. The holiday months of July and August have yet to come so it is expected that the amount of this year will be higher. There is no explanation for the increase. Last year more than 7200 people were told, at the passport control at Schiphol, that they were listed because they had not paid their fines. These were travelers who wanted to travel to a country outside the European Union. Within the EU there is no passport control. The amounts range from a few tens to up to ten thousand euros. Most of the confronted people immediately draw their wallets. But there are also people who can not pay immediately. Last year about 700 people missed their flight because of this.