Faced with congestion at Amsterdam Schiphol airport over the Ascension weekend, Dutch airline KLM announced on Thursday 26 May that it would be suspending most ticket sales. for all flights departing from Schiphol airport until Monday 30 May. The airport is facing long queues to pass through security, due to a lack of staff.
Queues at SchipholEurope's third busiest airport, have grown in scale in recent weeks.. Spreading out into the street, they force travellers to wait for hours to pass through security checks. With many passengers missing their plane.
KLM suspends ticket sales for three days
The national carrier KLM has therefore taken drastic decisions. " KLM suspends ticket sales for flights departing up to and including Sunday as Schiphol fails to resolve its security problems" said Gerrie Brand, KLM spokesperson to the Reuters press agency.
The cap on ticket sales is therefore necessary to meet the needs of those who missed their flight because of the chaos at Schiphol. Passengers who missed their flight because of the congestion at the airport can be rebooked on flights departing within the next three days.
However, this measure does not affect the sale of tickets including a connection in Amsterdam..
Freeze slots and send aircraft to regional airports
The management of Amsterdam Schiphol has announced that it plans to recruit more security staff before the summer holidays. According to a press release, a temporary regulation will also freeze time slots. Unused slots held by incumbent carriers will not be redistributed to other carriers.
This measure should reduce the number of movements. The new rules apply from June 1 to August 28 and will enable better planning.
The airport authority also wants to transfer certain flights to regional airports in the Netherlands such as Rotterdam and Eindhoven.. And to encourage the recruitment of new staff - particularly with higher salaries.
