Schiphol Limits Travelers Due To Manpower Shortages

The number of people allowed through Schiphol Airport is now being capped due to a severe lack of available workers. Due to a shortage of workers, the biggest and most important airport in the Netherlands, Schiphol, has temporarily limited the number of passengers who may pass through its terminals at any one time.

The airport company Royal Schiphol Group informed its fellow stakeholders, particularly airlines and travel organizations, that the airport would need to set a restriction on the number of people traveling to and leaving the airport on a daily basis in order to prevent it from being overcrowded. The airport is designed to accommodate a certain number of passengers each day, however the actual number changes from day to day.

July’s busiest days had a total of 67,500 passengers, while August’s top days saw a total of 72,500 people. Because of this, the airport is unable to hire more security staff during the summer peak season because of the stringent and restrictive labor rules in the Netherlands.

Without more staff, this would be a nightmare for customers, and it would also increase the likelihood that travellers would miss their flights owing to the lengthy lineups at security.

Schiphol is aware that the current situation is less than ideal, but in the interest of ensuring the well-being of both passengers and employees, the number of people who may travel through the airport at any one time must be restricted.

The chief executive officer of the airport, Dick Benschop, voiced his worries by saying, “We are taking this action with an extremely heavy heart.” After the effect that the coronavirus has had, everyone at Schiphol and all of our partners wants nothing more than to provide a warm welcome to any and all travelers. “This summer at Schiphol, there are a lot of possibilities, but not all of them. By imposing a restriction at this time, the vast majority of passengers will be able to board their flights from Schiphol in a manner that is both responsible and risk-free.”

Despite the fact that the airport has had a dismal performance for the previous two years, it is encouraging to see that it is bustling and congested. There are very few exceptions to the fact that there is a very high demand for travel, particularly air travel. Despite this, the nation is experiencing a manpower shortage, which is also being felt across the global aviation sector, from airlines to airports.

The airport organization had to revise its projection of the number of passengers in order to account for the lack of available security staff, which is a major setback. In the best case scenario, the airport would have served a total of 60 million people in 2022, which is a significant increase from the 25.5 million passengers it served in the previous year.

In the event that a human scarcity continues for an extended period of time, the baseline will be much lower than the anticipated situation. The airport is making every effort to retain its current workforce and is also actively seeking qualified candidates to fill open positions on its staff.

Recently, the airport has been having discussions regarding the new measure with various airlines and independent slot coordinators (ACNL). Between the 7th and the 31st of July, there is a limit placed on the number of passengers that may be accommodated. The slot organizer is aware of this limit.

The ACNL will have discussions with airlines on the reduction in capacity, and within 14 days, airlines will have information regarding the precise passenger numbers that will be limited at that time. In the meanwhile, the airport is working hard to increase the number of passengers it can accommodate.

This has a detrimental effect on the image and identity of Schiphol Airport. The airport is in a race against time to find a solution to the issue, because if they don’t, the airport’s reputation will be tarnished even worse.