Schiphol to open extra gates to help with summer crowds

Schiphol Airport will open all security gates in Departure Hall 1 during the summer season to help deal with the expected crowds. All security gates in Departure Hall 2 will also be opened if necessary, the airport announced following consultations between State Secretary Sharon Dijksma of Infrastructure, Schiphol CEO Jos Nijhuis and KLM CEO Pieter Elbers, NU.nl reports.

This comes on top of previously announced measures, such as the deployment of more security personnel and more personnel to help passengers through the airport. 

Madness reigned at Schiphol Airport during one weekend in the May holiday. Very long lines at the security checkpoints resulted in many dozens of passengers missing flights. Every day dozens of people had to be booked on different flights because they missed theirs. And on a delay of three hours or longer, passengers are entitled to compensation. A mass claim is already in the works.

According to KLM, the long waiting lines for passengers cost the airline "millions". KLM demanded concrete solutions from Schiphol to prevent the situation repeating itself during the summer. 

A Schiphol spokesperson told NU.nl that the meeting between Dijksma, Nijhuis and Elders was "constructive". The discussions between KLM and the airport on ways to counter long security lines will continue on Tuesday.