Amsterdam's Schiphol airport has asked airlines to cancel flights over the weekend to avoid chaos due to overcrowding at Europe's third busiest airport, it said on Thursday 28 April.
Details
The airport said that it had taken the action due to staff shortages. An unannounced strike among baggage handlers aggravated major delays and cancellations at the airport on 23 April.
Schiphol said in an email to Reuters it had "asked airlines to reduce the number of local departing passengers this weekend by cancelling bookings, and not accepting new bookings from Schiphol in the period from 2 to 8 May."
"This is an annoying but necessary measure to reduce the number of passengers," it said.
The airport said it advised travelers to contact their airlines for information on specific flights.
Schiphol was not available for further comment on how many flights would be affected.
Dutch news agency ANP reported that KLM, the Dutch arm of airline Air France-KLM AIRF.PA, expected to cancel several flights on Friday.
KLM could not immediately be reached for comment late on Thursday 28 April.
Dutch Airline KLM Cancels Dozens Of Flights To Relieve Pressure On Workers - ANP
The above news was followed by news that Dutch airline KLM on Friday 29 April cancelled dozens of flights to and from Amsterdam to improve working conditions for its staff, Dutch news agency ANP reported.
KLM ground staff at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport last Saturday (23 April) went on an unannounced strike in demand for higher pay and better working conditions, causing delays, cancellations and overall chaos at Europe's third busiest airport.
A spokesperson for the Dutch division of airline group Air France-KLM AIRF.PA told ANP flights were now scrapped pre-emptively to relieve pressure on its workers.
KLM could not immediately be reached for comment.
On Thursday 28 April, Schiphol had asked airlines to consider scrapping flights, as it feared its terminals would overcrowd again during the weekend.
KLM was set to decide on this request later on Friday 30 April, ANP said.
UPDATE 1-Dutch Airline KLM Cancels Dozens Of Flights To Relieve Pressure On Workers
The above news was followed by the following update:
Dutch airline KLM cancelled 47 flights scheduled for this weekend to and from Amsterdam to improve working conditions for its staff, the airline said in a statement, having earlier scrapped dozens of flights scheduled for Friday.
KLM ground staff at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport last Saturday (23 April) went on an unannounced strike demanding higher pay and better working conditions, causing delays, cancellations and overall chaos at Europe's third busiest airport.
"The flight schedule will be optimized on a day to day basis this weekend. More cancellations are not foreseen for now, but might still follow," KLM's statement read.
On Thursday 28 April, Schiphol had asked airlines to consider scrapping flights, as it feared its terminals would overcrowd again during the weekend.
News by Reuters, edited by Hospitality Ireland. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
