Dozens of flights canceled at Schiphol Friday ahead of winter storm Goretti
Schiphol Airport will face more disruptions as Storm Goretti moves across Europe, potentially bringing snow, heavy rain, and strong winds. In anticipation of another day of inclement weather, airlines cancelled at least 70 flights to or from the Amsterdam-area airport. Winter weather could reach the airport around 5 p.m., potentially bringing snow for the fifth time this week, which has already led to airlines cancelling around 3,600 flights since Jan. 2.
Despite KLM transporting about 100,000 passengers flying through Schiphol on Thursday, the airline confirmed the possibility of issues developing later. "Bad weather is expected tomorrow evening, Friday, January 9. Therefore, KLM is preemptively canceling 80 flights to and from Schiphol. The outlook for the rest of the day is favorable," the airline stated on Thursday evening.
Immediately following the announcement, Schiphol's website indicated 70 flight cancellations for Friday. This included 45 departures, predominantly KLM evening flights, and 25 more inbound trips.
"We are doing our utmost to rebook passengers onto the next available flight. By canceling flights now, we are providing our passengers with timely information, and preventing last-minute flight cancellations," KLM stated.
Eurocontrol, the European air traffic center, warned that “very strong winds and areas of persistent rain affect the UK, France, Germany, Benelux, and Denmark as Storm Goretti moves across the region. Rain across Benelux and western Germany becomes increasingly wintry later in the day, likely turning to snow or mixed rain and snow in the evening.”
Problems have been swelling at Schiphol for a week, starting with strong winds last Friday and Saturday, the result of Storm Anna making landfall in northern Europe. That was followed by a windy, snowy day on Sunday, and three more snow-filled days.
Although Thursday's weather was relatively calm, more precipitation was set to hit various parts of the Netherlands late on Thursday evening and into Friday morning. This was expected to start as a mix of rain and sleet, possibly turning into snowfall overnight.
Weather warnings for snow and icy roads were distributed for all of Thursday and Friday, and most of Saturday, in the whole country. So far, it is at the lower Code Yellow alert level for the duration, with the exception of Friday from about midnight to noon. During that time, a more severe Code Orange warning will be in effect in Drenthe, Friesland, Groningen, and the Wadden Islands.
"In recent days we’ve been dealing with wintry weather conditions, which have caused cancellations and delays," Schiphol wrote in an update on Thursday. "Please keep in mind that the terminal will be busier than usual. We’re deploying extra office staff to answer travellers’ questions and to hand out food and drinks."
Travelers were advised to check flight statuses before traveling, and not to arrive at Schiphol too early before a scheduled departure. "We will be closely monitoring the weather conditions for the coming days."
Six departures at Schiphol were scrapped on Thursday, along with 62 inbound flights. Most of the inbound flights were cancelled by KLM a day earlier, as the airline was unable to get aircraft in place by the time the business day began.
