De-icing operations under threat at Schiphol Airport; 585 flights cancelled, 325 delayed
The ability to continue de-icing aircraft at Schiphol Airport near Amsterdam is under threat, as the supply of fluid used to clear snow and ice from aircraft is running low, KLM said on Tuesday afternoon. The Dutch airline is not only responsible for de-icing its own aircraft, but handles most de-icing operations for the entire airport, a Schiphol spokesperson told NL Times. Consecutive days of winter weather has pushed airport flight cancellations towards 2,500, including nearly 600 on Tuesday, and up to 70 percent of flights scheduled for Wednesday could be scrapped, according to Eurocontrol.
"Due to a combination of extreme weather conditions and stagnant supplies from the supplier, the depletion of the stock is approaching. The supplier cannot currently guarantee replenishment of the fluid, which is sourced from Germany," KLM wrote in a statement. "Every departing aircraft must be completely clear of snow and ice before it can safely depart."
Running out of the de-icing fluid, a mixture of warm water and glycol, would jeopardize the continuation of operations at the airport. Without de-icing capabilities, "a decision would be made with the flights departing to determine if that can happen," an airport spokesperson told NL Times. "Safety is our top priority," he said.
Cancellations and delays continue to rise at Schiphol
About 45 percent of scheduled take-offs and landings have been cancelled at Schiphol Airport over the past four days, as strong winds followed by snow and sleet have caused continuous problems at the airport. Some 2,365 flights have been cancelled in and out of Schiphol from Saturday through Tuesday, and 1,891 have faced a myriad of delays during that time.
Those figures include 280 departures cancelled on Tuesday, as well as 303 inbound flights, according to airport data. Another 146 flights scheduled for a Tuesday departure have also faced delays, as did 180 commercial flights expected to arrive over the course of the day.
About 70% of flights could be cut tomorrow
The process of de-icing aircraft causes a bottleneck at the airport, forcing persistent limitations on arriving flights to better balance the load. On Tuesday alone, airlines were asked to cut 60 percent of their flight movements at Schiphol, according to European air traffic center Eurocontrol.
Passenger airlines were even asked to slash 70 percent of their scheduled services on Wednesday. The "severely reduced" limit on flight movements at the airport was extended to the end of operations on Wednesday night, Eurocontrol wrote in a bulletin at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
About 80 departures and 110 arriving flights were pre-emptively cancelled by airlines for Wednesday. Meanwhile, KLM's 25 de-icing vehicles have been running virtually non-stop since Friday, spraying the fluid mixture on aircraft set to depart. With supplies dwindling, the airline is trying to take a more active role in replenishing its stock by collecting more fluid in Germany itself, the airline stated.
Passengers still flying in and out of other Dutch airports
The situation was not perfect, but not nearly as dire at the country's other commercial airports. There were no flight cancellations reported at Eindhoven Airport and Rotterdam The Hague Airport on Tuesday. A total of 14 departures faced minor to serious delays in Eindhoven, while 7 inbound flights were delayed, and one more was diverted to another facility. There were 14 delayed departures and 8 inbound aircraft delayed at Rotterdam The Hague Airport.
It is not yet clear what more can be done for the thousands of passengers who have been waiting for flights to depart from Schiphol. "We're doing our utmost to help everyone at the airport," the Schiphol spokesperson said. The airport has not taken a decision to set up cots to provide passengers with a place to rest, and it is not certain whether the Red Cross will again be asked to provide assistance, as volunteers did on Monday night.
Even though the weather is largely expected to remain clear through the rest of Tuesday, more snow was predicted to hit during the overnight hours and into Wednesday morning, according to meteorological office KNMI.
The entire country will likely remain under a Code Yellow weather advisory for snow and icy roads until 9 a.m. on Thursday. Colder temperatures are likely to remain until Sunday, followed by an 80 percent chance the weather warms up a bit next week, the KNMI said.
