KLM canceled dozens of flights to and from Amsterdam Schiphol over the weekend, after an appeal from the airport to airlines asking them to reduce the number of travelers to prevent crowds there, the company said on Friday. Dutch air transport.
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"
On the one hand, the cancellations must contribute to Schiphol's demand to keep the processes at the airport manageable due to the lack of staff there
," KLM said, as the airport has been overloaded for several days.
"
On the other hand, these cancellations in KLM's flight schedule contribute to reducing the workload
" of the company's employees, KLM said in a press release.
KLM has so far canceled 47 flights (return and one-way) for Saturday and Sunday.
28 round-trip flights were canceled on Friday.
Schiphol, Europe's busiest airport by plane movements in 2019 - with more than 70 million travelers that year - has seen its numbers plunge during the pandemic.
Trips canceled this weekend
But after the Netherlands dropped the majority of anti-Covid-19 restrictions in mid-March, passenger numbers have continued to rise.
Last Saturday, the first day of school holidays for many young Dutch people and when a peak of travelers was expected, KLM baggage handlers also went on strike to protest against the lack of staff and long working days.
The action had led to the cancellation of the departure and arrival of many flights and caused a "
very unpleasant start
" to this holiday period, had lamented KLM.
The chaos was such at Schiphol last Saturday that the airport was forced to warn travelers not to go there.
In order to avoid a repeat of this scenario, the airport has called on airlines to cancel trips this weekend.
Transport companies "
have complied
" with this request, the airport said in a statement, which aimed to reduce the number of passengers by 3,500, which it said is "
almost achieved
".
“
Schiphol made the exceptional request in part in the context of traveler and employee safety
,” Schiphol said.
“
Crowds are caused by May holidays and staff shortages in the aviation sector
“, also explained the airport.
At least one airline has also moved a number of flights to nearby and less crowded Rotterdam The Hague airport.
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