Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Image
KLM Boeing 737-700, PH-BGP at Schiphol Airport
KLM Boeing 737-700, PH-BGP at Schiphol Airport. 14 June 2011 - Credit: Saschaporsche / Wikimedia Commons - License: CC-BY-SA
Business
Coronavirus
lockdown
travel restrictions
KLM
rapid test
Covid-19 test
Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management
Thursday, 21 January 2021 - 08:41
Share this:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
  • reddit

KLM may ground all intercontinental flights due to new restrictions

The mandatory rapid Covid-19 tests for travelers from abroad means that KLM will likely stop operating long-haul flights from Saturday. As things currently stand, hundreds of freight and passenger flights will be canceled per week, unless the government exempts KLM crew from this testing requirement, the Dutch airline said, NOS reports.

On Wednesday afternoon, the outgoing cabinet announced that from Saturday all travelers from countries with an increased risk of catching Covid-19 will have to undergo a rapid test shortly before departure. Without a negative test, they will not be allowed to board the plane.

According to KLM, this means that crew members who test positive will have to be left behind abroad, and that does not work with "good employment practices". Leaving staff behind could also result in occupancy problems on the planes. This will affect several hundred flights a week, mainly intercontinental ones, a spokesperson for the airline said to NOS.

KLM therefore asked the government to exempt its staff from the testing obligation. The airline is also looking for other solutions internally, such as flying with extra crew to make sure they have enough staff for the return flight.

The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management said in a response that KLM employees can only skip the rapid test if they stay within the secure area at the airport. "As soon as they step into a high-risk area and spend the night there, for example, they run the risk of infection with the coronavirus or mutations thereof, just like other people in the country concerned."

The exception offered by the Ministry is not a workable solution for long-haul flights. After landing, KLM always allows the crew to stay overnight in a hotel because of mandatory rest times. And hotels are past customs.

Trade union De Unie told NOS that the mandatory rapid test will cause extreme damage to the Dutch economy. "Between the lines, the cabinet may well have announced the resignation of thousands of KLM employees today," De Unie chairman Reinier Castelein said.

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • Schiphol to compensate passengers who missed flights due to long lines
  • Utrecht to appeal court decision allowing abortion protesters at a city clinic
  • Radboud University researchers may have a vaccine that fights the spread of malaria
  • Transavia blacklists passenger who AirDropped plane crash photo before flight
  • Dutch farmers group calls off "hardest demonstrations" in goodwill gesture to Cabinet
  • Online Rembrandt museum selling Night Watch NFTs in fundraiser

Top stories

  • Schiphol to compensate passengers who missed flights due to long lines
  • Dutch farmers group calls off "hardest demonstrations" in goodwill gesture to Cabinet
  • Code Yellow in Netherlands as thermometers top 30 degrees Celsius
  • Renting out rooms simplified in Eindhoven to help students
  • Hundreds protest against anti-LGBTQIA+ violence in Amsterdam
  • Robbers target Ajax captain Dusan Tadic outside of his Amsterdam home

© 2012-2022, NL Times, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Privacy
  • Contact
  • Partner content