230 flight cancellations already planned at Schiphol on Thursday
A massive 230 flights arriving at and departing from Schiphol Airport on Thursday have already been canceled in anticipation of a massive storm expected to hit the Netherlands. Delays are also expected throughout the day. Travelers are advised to keep an eye on Schiphol's or their airline's website for actual flight times.
Between 6:45 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. 116 departures are canceled so far. And 114 arrivals starting at 10:15 a.m. continuing through to 8:00 p.m. Most of these involve KLM flights or KLM code shares. The Dutch airline KLM canceled 114 return flights in Europe for Thursday.
The runway capacity at Schiphol airport will be limited tomorrow due to the storm, according to KLM. "The heavy wind will also make it impossible to continue ground handling operations between 10:00 and 12:00 hours", the airline wrote in a statement. All affected passengers are being informed and their flights will be rebooked.
The second storm of the year is expected to hit the Netherlands on Thursday. The western coastal provinces can expect wind gusts of between 100 and 120 kilometers per hour. Meteorological institute KNMI issued a code orange warning of strong winds. The warning is in effect from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Thursday.