"Somewhat disrupted" day expected at Schiphol; 60 flights canceled so far

After major problems with refueling at Schiphol airport on Wednesday, the airport is expecting a "somewhat disrupted day" on Thursday. So far the Schiphol site reports 60 canceled flights and 43 delayed ones. Travelers are advised to check their flight status before leaving for the airport.

"Due to a fault in Aircraft Fuel Supply's system, a third party company that controls aircraft fuel supply", planes at Schiphol couldn't be refueled yesterday. This caused a disruption in our flight schedule yesterday", Schiphol said on its website on Thursday morning. "Because of yesterday's consequences, we also expect a somewhat disrupted day today. As a result, travelers can experience delays and possible cancelations. We understand that this situation can be very annoying and inconvenient for travelers."

As of 7:30 a.m. the flight schedule on Schiphol's website showed 16 canceled and 11 delayed departures, and 44 canceled and 32 delayed arrivals.

The refueling problems at Amsterdam's largest airport started at around 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday. At 9:30 p.m. the airport reported that the refueling system was starting up again. 11 minutes later planes started refueling. By that time over 250 flights had been canceled, and some 450 delayed for hours.

Thousands of travelers were left stranded at Schiphol. Hotels and other accommodations in and around Amsterdam quickly filled up. The Red Cross placed 6 thousand camping cots in the airport itself for travelers who could find no alternative accommodations.

"I have never experienced such a scandalous situation at an airport", a furious British traveler said to NOS. He is particularly angry about the lack of information. "They don't do anything. They just send people away and say: we can't help you, just go to a hotel."