Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
- IATA/ICAO Code
- AMS/EHAM
- Country
- Array
- CEO
- Ruud Sondag
- Passenger Count
- 20,887,144 (2020)
- Runways
- 18R/36L 'Polderbaan' - 3,800m (12,467ft) | 06/24 'Kaagbaan' - 3,500m (11,483ft) | 09/27 'Buitenveldertbaan' - 3,453m (11,329ft) | 18L/36R 'Aalsmeerbaan' - 3,400m (11,155ft) | 18C/36C 'Zwanenburgbaan' - 3,300m (10,827ft) | 04/22 'Oostbaan' - 2,014m (6,608ft)
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Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
- IATA/ICAO Code:
- AMS/EHAM
- Country:
- Netherlands
- CEO:
- Ruud Sondag
- Passenger Count :
- 20,887,144 (2020)
- Runways :
- 18R/36L 'Polderbaan' - 3,800m (12,467ft) | 06/24 'Kaagbaan' - 3,500m (11,483ft) | 09/27 'Buitenveldertbaan' - 3,453m (11,329ft) | 18L/36R 'Aalsmeerbaan' - 3,400m (11,155ft) | 18C/36C 'Zwanenburgbaan' - 3,300m (10,827ft) | 04/22 'Oostbaan' - 2,014m (6,608ft)
As staff shortages and other operational challenges persist, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport will continue to enforce its passenger cap until November. The airport, despite investing in more security staff to cope with rising passenger numbers, arrived at the decision after consulting with airlines.
Amsterdam Schiphol passenger cap to continue
After introducing a cap on passenger numbers over the summer, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) has announced that its daily cap will continue until at least November. The airport will allow 67,500 departures per day over September, set to rise to 69,500 over October.
Amsterdam Schiphol stated,
"The purpose of setting a maximum is to ensure the safety of passengers and employees and to create a reliable process at the airport. All efforts are focused on keeping the consequences for travellers to a minimum."
The cap for July, set at 67,500 passengers a day, failed to prevent further chaos at Amsterdam Schiphol as many airlines transferred flights to Rotterdam and Liege. This month, the airport has raised its daily cap to 72,500 passengers per day as the summer holidays kick in.
According to AMS, the reason why the daily passenger cap for September and October is lower than August is due to the 'seasonal effect,' which is when passengers take longer at security checks post-summer as they are wearing more layers of clothing, leading to slower lines.
Autumn holiday rush
The airport has warned that, over the upcoming autumn holiday period from October 15th to October 30th, there will likely be an excess of around 3,500 daily passengers due to higher demand for flights.
According to the airport,
"Schiphol has informed airlines and travel organizations that in and around the two weeks of the autumn holidays, the expectation is that there will be an average of 3,500 too many local departing passengers."
AMS continues to advise passengers to arrive at the airport no more than four hours before their flight. However, there have been cases of passengers arriving with four hours to spare missing their flights due to the long queues.
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Security staff recruitment drive
Amsterdam Schiphol recently announced that approximately 200 security guards will be recruited from August, with another 80 to join in October. Despite this, long queues have persisted this week and the airport continues to warn of delays.
It isn't just a lack of security staff causing the queues, delays and cancelations. AMS has also had trouble recruiting enough ground handlers this year as passenger numbers bounce back, while airlines are also short on ground staff.
As the airport explained,
"Virtually all parties at the airport are understaffed, and any unexpected changes can result in delays to the entire airport process at Schiphol. This has been the subject of extensive consultation with airlines in the recent period."
Have you flown out of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport recently? How did you find the experience? Feel free to share your stories in the comments.