Schiphol airport has extended its cap on passengers for the months of September and October following similar measures this summer.
There will be a cap of 67,500 passengers per day in September, rising to 69,500 in October.
Schiphol says that the airport’s capacity in September is expected to “be comparable to the expected supply”, but that there will be an average of 3,500 too many passengers “in and around the two weeks of the autumn holidays”.
The airport limited the number of travellers departing from the airport this summer due to a shortfall of security employees. Schiphol had placed a cap of 67,500 travellers per day for July, rising to 73,000 for August.
The airport has explained that the maximum number of passengers per day in September and October is lower than in August due to the “seasonal effect”. It states:
“Travellers use more bins at security control after the summer because they wear more clothes, such as coats, hiking boots and vests. As a result, it takes a little longer to check all the hand baggage and the passengers.”
To cope with demand, 200 new security guards will be recruited this month and another 80 will be added to start in October. It added that passengers should arrive at the airport no more than four hours before their flights.
The airline added:
“Sticking to a maximum number of departing passengers also helps cope with operational changes, such as a delayed flight arrival or departure. Virtually all parties at the airport are understaffed, and any unexpected changes can result in delays to the entire airport process at Schiphol.”
This comes after the news that British Airways has suspended sales of short-haul departures from Heathrow until August 15.
BA takes all short haul departures from Heathrow off sale until August 8
Airlines serving Schiphol airport were also forced to switch to smaller planes or leave seats empty due to the hub’s capacity cuts last month.
On the environmental front, from November 2023 the maximum number of flights allowed per year at the airport will also be cut by 20 per cent in a bid to reduce noise and air pollution.
Analysis from our consumer editor Alex McWhirter:
National airline KLM is a sixth-freedom carrier. Its business plan revolves around transfer passengers.
Luchtvaartnieuws.nl quotes KLM saying it will be limiting local ticket sales and instead will give priority to transit passengers.
In theory rail operator Eurostar ought to benefit from aviation’s misfortunes.
But as we have reported already the train firm is struggling to cope with existing demand.