Main Dutch Airport Cuts 14,500 Flights Due to Influx of Travelers
The main entrance of Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, Thursday, July 17, 2014
InternationalIndiaAfricaPARIS (Sputnik) – The main international airport of the Netherlands, Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport, has cut 14,500 flights due to the influx of passengers after the COVID-19 pandemic eased, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported on Monday, citing the airport’s spokesperson. The Dutch government previously announced plans to reduce the number of flights at Schiphol from 500,000 to 440,000 a year. Despite the fact that this EU procedure is still under consideration, the airport has already begun to cut its flight movements. At the same time, the airport’s spokesperson said that the reductions were not related to the government’s plans, according to De Telegraaf. “Schiphol decided to release flight slots in phases in the context of their resumption after the coronavirus,” the spokesperson told the newspaper. The airport is planning to reduce the number of flights by 40,000 by the end of 2023, the report said. After the lifting of restrictions imposed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Schiphol faced a large inflow of travelers, but the airport was not ready to handle such a load due to security personnel shortages. In the summer of 2022, Schiphol canceled hundreds of flights due to the lack of employees and introduced passenger traffic restrictions to avoid queues.
