Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam has urged airlines to postpone flights over the weekend in order to avoid turmoil caused by congestion at Europe’s third busiest airport, the airport announced on Thursday.
Staff shortages prompted the measure, according to the airport. On April 23, an unannounced luggage handlers strike exacerbated considerable delays and cancellations at the airport.
In an email to the media, Schiphol said it had “asked airlines to reduce the number of local departing passengers this weekend by canceling bookings and not accepting new bookings from Schiphol in the period from May 2 to 8,” and that it had “asked airlines to reduce the number of local departing passengers this weekend by canceling bookings, and not accepting new bookings from Schiphol in the period from 2 to 8 May.”
It stated, “This is an inconvenient but necessary action to minimize the number of travelers.”
For information on specific flights, the airport urged visitors to contact their carriers.
Schiphol declined to comment on the number of flights that would be impacted.
KLM, the Dutch subsidiary of Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA), is anticipated to cancel many flights on Friday, according to the media.
