Schiphol will be forced to limit flights next summer due to air traffic control issues

To avoid a return of the long lines and chaotic scenes seen at Schiphol Airport, the number of morning flights scheduled during the summer holiday period will be limited. In the period following the coronavirus pandemic, Schiphol was caught off guard with major shortages in security and baggage crew staffing. This time, flights will have to be rescheduled, consolidated, or undersold due to a shortage at Air Traffic Control - the Netherlands (LVNL), according to the Telegraaf.

It will be the third summer in a row where airport operations will have to deviate from original plans, cutting down on travel options during popular hours over the summer. Business travel expert Daan Lenderink fears that it will mean airlines will stop offering reduced fares for many flights so they can maintain their revenue without rescheduling or relocating to another airport.

Operations related to departing flights has been working well thanks to increased staffing at security and baggage handling, and with the introduction of a system that allows departing passengers to book a time slot to access security checkpoints. The new problem that the airport is trying to avert has more to do with arrivals.

“When there are too many people in the terminal, the flow is not high enough. If we have delays in the morning, it will continue throughout the day,” said Schiphol's head of operations, Patricia Vitalis.

The airport announced on Thursday that it can allow 483,000 flights to takeoff and land in 2024, but only if airlines are able to ease the burden during peak hours. The airport said this was necessary to maintain stable operations.

Passenger airlines have agreed to reschedule 13,000 flights thus far. “Given the challenges with staff, we accept this outcome. But we assume that all problems will be solved after the summer of next year,” said Marnix Fruitema from airline industry group Barin.

“Schiphol is an airport where we operate like the Champions League, but we are less flexible because we still have traffic controllers in training. We have now looked at how the available people can facilitate the most aircraft," LVNL leader Michiel van Dorst told the newspaper.

“If we can all contribute to a more stable operation, we would be happy to do so,” Petra Kok of TUI told the Telegraaf.