Schiphol will be less impacted by NATO Summit than previously expected

Schiphol Airport will be less impacted by the NATO summit in The Hague at the end of June than initially expected. Instead of 25 to 30 percent of flights being canceled, only up to 10 percent of flights to and from the Amsterdam airport will have to be scrapped, slot coordinator Hugo Thomassen told Luchtvaartniews.

The NATO summit in The Hague is happening on June 24 and 25. Almost all Western government leaders are expected to attend. For security reasons, the airspace above The Hague will be closed during and around the summit, and the Polderbaan runway at Schiphol Airport will be used as parking for all the government aircraft. At the same time, the Buitenveldertbaan runway will be closed for maintenance.

In December, Thomassen still expected that these capacity restrictions would result in up to 30 percent of Schiphol flights being canceled between June 21 and 27. The airport expected that about a quarter of its flights would have to be scrapped. However, after some careful consideration, the slot coordinator, airport, and airlines have figured out how to minimize the impact.

“Together with the airlines, we have been able to solve the puzzle,” Thomassen told Luchtvaartnieuws. “The companies involved have managed to reduce the number of cancellations by rescheduling flights.”

A 10 percent reduction still means hundreds of canceled flights between June 21 and 27. KLM, the largest airline at Schiphol, will carry the brunt of the cancellations. A spokesperson told Luchtvaartnieuws that it is working to limit the inconvenience for passengers as much as possible by combining flights, among other things.