Thousands of damage claims following Schiphol chaos

Many travelers want refunds for canceled or delayed flights from Schiphol. Claims specialists Aviclaim and EUclaim have already received thousands of requests to arrange compensation. The companies, which recover damages from airlines on behalf of victims for compensation, also notice that travelers still have many questions.

Aviclaim founder Remco Kuilman said his company "is flooded with calls" from people who want to know what they are entitled to. "It's dozens of calls an hour." the travelers then hear that they can get compensation from the airline if their flight was delayed by at least three hours or was canceled. In the past week and a half, dozens of flights at Schiphol were canceled, first due to an unannounced strike by KLM ground staff and later due to staff shortages.

Since the strike day, Saturday, April 23, Aviclaim has received over 1,600 claims for damages, together representing a value of 1.3 million euros. The day of the strike led to about 400 claims so far. If damages can be claimed, a quarter of the amount will go to Aviclaim.

EUclaim also got many calls about compensation, said flight analyst Paul Vaneker. The organization advised around 3,300 people to file a clime in the past week and a half, about a third of whom had April 23 as their departure date. "This is just the tip of the iceberg," said Vaneker. "We notice that many travelers do not report until after their return. Many passengers will not be back home until next week." The compensation can be up to 600 euros for a long-haul flight.

On the day of the wild strike, which means the trade unions didn't organize it, the site Vulcth-vetraagd.nl received claims from 430 passengers in the Netherlands. In the days that followed, another 1,422 requesters for compensation came in. According to a spokesperson, all these passengers are entitled to compensation for delayed or canceled flights.