Baggage and long queues have delayed what is often Europe’s busiest airport.
To avoid baggage piling, Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport has required passengers to travel with only hand luggage.
American Bahina, who traveled all the way from California to go to a festival in Amsterdam, did not.
– I can’t find my bag, so it’s not good, Angela Bahina tells NRK.
Natalia Gonzalez was scheduled to make a stopover in Schiphol and return to Spain yesterday. Shallow delays lose ho flyet.
– I was so frustrated. I couldn’t find anyone to talk to and it was just a big mess. Now I just want to go home, says Gonzalez.
Due to delays and long queues, Natalia Gonzalez had to spend the night in Amsterdam.
Photography: Ismail Burak Akkan / NRK
Not enough people
Among those who handle baggage in Schiphol, it is not a good idea to work at the moment.
We don’t have enough people for the job, so we know we’re not done. The whole day was disappointing, says the student shift leader, Gerben de Jong to NRK.
De Jong said they had warned their superiors for a long time that this was going to happen.
Now the airport will hire more people, but because of the security clearance they will not come to work until after the summer.
– It’s very frustrating, he says.
If that wasn’t enough, I might strike out at the airport’s reindeer herders, too.
The leader of the rosary among the students, Gerben de Jong, says they can’t get away with everything they have to do.
Photography: Ismail Barak Akkan
Airport cancellation
In Norway, aircraft technicians are on strike, something like this led to many settings.
In Europe, airports need to take action to reduce passenger traffic.
In Schiphol, the airport has forced airlines to reduce passenger numbers by about 16 percent compared to normal during the summer months.
At London Heathrow, they have reduced the number of flights this summer by 10%. The cut here will affect 5,000 passengers.
– If there is enough chaos, there is only one thing they can do and that is reduce traffic in and out of airports, says Frode Steen Professor of Economics at the Norwegian School of Economics.
It is believed that it could also happen at other major airports.
Travelers should prepare for the fact that they may be late soon this summer, he says.
Bags scattered on the floor at Schiphol Airport last night.
Photography: Ismail Burak Akkan / NRK
lack of staff
As the pandemic has ground flights, many airport employees have lost their jobs.
Steen says it appears that the surge in air travel during the summer season has come suddenly at major airports.
– If a delay occurs in one joint, the other occurs. It would be a chain reaction, says Stein.
In the short term, it is difficult to solve the problem of staff shortages.
—Now there is a lot of competition for this kind of workforce, at the same time it takes a long time to get a permit for safety’s sake, he says.
At London Heathrow, there is still no order for the huge amounts of luggage that flew over the airport this week.
Photo: Henry Nichols/Reuters
strike alerts
Major strikes have also been announced this summer among workers in the airline industry.
After job and wage cuts during the pandemic, employees are demanding better wages and working conditions.
At Brussels Airport, all flights were canceled on Monday, following a national strike.
Also at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, there are our ongoing strikes and major rounds of cancellations. At Heathrow, a possible strike has been announced from next month.
In addition, unions at Ryanair and Easyjet have announced a strike, according to reports Reuters.
Airports and airlines across Europe face major challenges this summer. The combination of a strike and staff shortages can be more exciting than we’d like, Steen says.
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