Another crowded day expected at Schiphol

Schiphol will again be crowded on Monday. The airport again warned passengers to expect much longer queues than usual. Peak crowds are expected on Monday morning. The rest of the day will also be busy, and travelers can expect to stand in line longer. The problems are primarily related to staff shortages at the airport.

Schiphol asked airlines to reduce the number of travelers due to the large crowds and to relieve the workload of airport staff. That almost succeeded on Saturday, but not on Sunday. The coming days will also be busy as the May holidays continue. Until May 8, an average of 174,000 passengers will travel from, to, or via Schiphol per day.

After a busy Sunday with long queues, Schiphol called the situation manageable. "The lines ran reasonably well. There were no new cancelations due to the crowds," said a Schiphol spokesperson late afternoon. 

Schiphol aimed to reduce the number of passengers by 5,800 on Sunday, but that proved impossible. "The call on airlines to take fewer passengers does not apply at the moment, but we don't rule out that we will use it again elsewhere in the year if there is really no other option and the need is great," the airport spokesperson said.

When asked what measures Schiphol is taking to prevent long queues during future holiday periods, the airport spokesperson said: "We have done our best to recruit staff over the past period. We will continue to do so. We have started evaluating the May holidays and are working hard on a plan for the summer."

Travel industry organization ANVR previously said it would like to sit down with Schiphol as soon as possible to discuss the problems at the airport. The organization especially wants to know how the airport can handle the summer holidays better.