Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport to limit passenger flow until March

Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport on Thursday said it would continue limiting the daily number of passengers in the coming months as it struggles to find a way to solve its ongoing shortage of security staff.

Schiphol, one of Europe’s busiest airports, said daily passenger numbers would be reduced by around a fifth until at least March 2023.

Schiphol earlier this month cut capacity until the end of October by almost 20 per cent and now said this reduced level would be maintained in the coming months.

Passengers at Schiphol have faced long lines for security checks for months due to a shortage of workers, causing many travellers to miss their flight.

KLM, the main airline at Schiphol, said the situation now seemed hopeless, as the airport had for months failed to offer any viable solution.

“For KLM this is the last straw”, the Dutch arm of airline group Air France KLM said in a statement. “Again and again, airlines and their passengers need to offer the solution.”

KLM said it had no choice but to limit ticket sales for the coming winter, taking the total damage to missed revenues to more than €100 million ($98 million).

The airport said limiting the number of passengers was necessary to secure everyone’s safety while it continued to work with security companies and labour unions to improve the situation.