Peak day at Schiphol, on the roads, and ferries as Easter coincides with spring holiday
Schiphol Airport is expecting one of its busiest days of the year, the ANWB warns of traffic jams, and the ferry services to the Wadden Islands are preparing for crowds at the jetties, NOS reported on Friday. Along with the long Easter weekend, the April-May school vacation period holiday is also beginning. That is expected to cause traffic everywhere.
Officially, the school holiday starts after classes end on April 25. However, schools are allowed to choose to extend this holiday by a week. Many have done so, with some also stacking up teacher training days before or after the break.
Schiphol expects almost 86,000 travelers on Friday, making it one of the busiest days of the year. The airport advised airline passengers to use public transport to get to the airport, and to check in online ahead of time.
The Amsterdam-area airport expects a total of 3.5 million passengers to travel through the airport during the spring holiday. That is about 6 percent more than last year. Spain, the United Kingdom, and Italy are the most popular destinations, followed by the United States, Greece and Turkey. The top ten destinations also include Portugal, Germany, France, and Switzerland.
Roadways in the Netherlands will also be busy on Friday, the travelers’ organization ANWB told NOS. “Many people are going on holiday or for a day trip.” The ANWB predicted traffic jams toward the Keukenhof in Lisse and around Schijndel, where the sold-out Paaspop festival is happening.
The most delays will be in Noord-Brabant, around the Veluwe, and between Utrecht and the south, the organization expects. The roads to and from Germany have been busy since this morning, partly because of border controls and tourists coming from Germany. The ANWB expects these routes to be busy again on Monday, when the Easter weekend ends and people head home.
The Wadden Islands are also expecting many visitors this weekend. The ferry services to the islands are running extra boats. “It is one of the busiest days of the year,” a spokesperson for the ferry service to Ameland and Schiermonnikoog told NOS.
Dirk Spoor of Rederij Doeksen, which provides crossings to Terschelling and Vlieland, confirmed: “The Easter weekend is always busier, and now the weather is also nice. It is the start of the high season.”
