Bar has been set ! Gatwick to cancel 4000 flights after Amsterdam Schiphol Airport decided a cap on the number of travellers per day this summer .

Schiphol Airport has Restricted the number of travellers !

Much have been said and discussed these months, as the vaccation deprived travellers faced unprecedented inconvenience while criss-crossing through Amsterdam International Airport Schiphol (IATA: AMS, ICAO: EHAM) and other major airports like Manchester (IATA: MAN, ICAO: EGCC) .

Signs of an upcoming Chaos was evident by Mid April this year , while it intensified to long Queues and frustrations , when KLM's ground staffs resorted to Wildcat strike.

Around 150 strikers (baggage handlers) were furious because KLM was planning to outsource part of the ground handling to 'Viggo' , another handling company.

Now , after realising the insufficient security staffs to screen the rushing travellers , Schiphol has decided to put a cap on the number of travellers per day during the busy summer travel season to alleviate the load on it's operations . It said ,

Schiphol has let airlines and travel organisations know that a limit needs to be placed on the number of travellers that can depart from the airport every day.

The maximum number of travellers that Schiphol can handle varies per day and goes up to 67,500 on the busiest days in July and up to 72,500 in August.

Schiphol talks about unavailability of security and ground staffs in a post pandemic tight labour market , but wants to cool down the effect by reducing it's capacity, which aiports would rarely love to do.

A tight labour market has led to there being too few security employees to perform the necessary checks on all the travellers wanting to fly this summer. Not intervening would mean unmanageable queues and many travellers would miss their flight. That would lead to unsafe situations for both travellers and staff.

Such helpless situation also drew the attention of Rulemakers and party leaders in Amsterdam in the month of May. Schiphol Airport (AMS) chief Dick Benschop was invited by Labour Party - 'PvdA' ; and 'VVD' - Netherlands, to reach the "Tweede Kamer" for a discussion on the chaos and massive crowds at the airport.

Dick Benschop , CEO of Schiphol , who has been under tremendous pressure these days, said ,

We are taking this measure with an unbelievably heavy heart. Everyone at Schiphol and all our partners want nothing more than to welcome all travellers with open arms, especially after the impact coronavirus has had.

A lot is possible at Schiphol this summer, but not everything. Setting a limit now means that the large majority of travellers will be able to travel from Schiphol in a safe and responsible way.

Shciphol is not the only one affected , most of the major European hubs are facing the similar situation of passenger dissatisfaction , Airports with proven records are crumbling.

After Amsterdam's Schiphol cancelling flights , London Gatwick airport is now looking at cancelling around 4,000 flights this summer, with daily limits in July to 825 flights and 840 in August.

The summer after Pandemic is special for a singular reason called 'Travel' , while aviation and aiports were struggling to survive during the pandemic due to Lockdowns , stringent rules and testings ,this year has reversed the trend and well exceeding demands has put the infrastructure and facility of the Airports into test.

The demand for air travel is exceeding even the most high expectations. At the same time, the labour market is incredibly tight. The strain is being felt in all areas of the aviation industry, from airports to airlines, in the Netherlands and in other countries.

Schiphol based the planning for 2022 on an high scenario: from 25.5 million passengers in 2021 to 60 million passengers in 2022. With the staff shortages in security, Schiphol will remain slightly below this scenario.

However, it does mean that a significant growth in the number of travellers is still possible. In any case, the expected demand for the coming summer exceeds all expectations. 

Schiphol is engaging Airlines and operators , consultations involving the slot coordinator seemed to have drawn conclusion to reduce the capacity till such time , appropriate facility is put into place.

Over the past few weeks, Schiphol has been holding intensive consultations with airlines and the independent slot coordinator (ACNL) regarding the implementation of this measure. The consultations are now over and Schiphol has let the slot coordinator know what the capacity is for the period between 7 July and 31 July, with a view to the rest of the summer.

On that basis, the slot coordinator will hold talks with all airlines regarding reducing the number of passengers. In two weeks’ time, a decision will be made regarding the period starting 31 July, based on the expected airport capacity at that time. All efforts are aimed at being able to increase capacity. 

However , Schiphol does not expect an uniform cap everyday allowing carriers to plan to be flexible on certain days ,

The consequences of this measure vary per day. In the outlook for these weeks in July, there are 13.500 seats on average too many each day relative to security capacity. This does not mean that the same number of travellers will be adversely affected by this measure.

Some of the seats included in the planning have not yet been sold. All parties will do their utmost to keep the consequences for travellers to a minimum by, where possible, rebooking them or rescheduling the flights to other airports. Flights will also be cancelled, either due to the limits being set or for other reasons. 

Skilled Aviation workers have depleted after Pandemic , many have retired from the profession , some have taken up other professions ; and sadly , some others have lost lives during the Pandemic . This the reality and everyone need to accept the scenario and focus on hiring new staffs and apprentices.

Schiphol and the security companies are doing all they can to retain current employees and to attract and train new staff. This is supported by the joint agreement that Schiphol reached with the unions, which includes a summer supplement.