Passengers tearfully mourn the loss of the flight; children crawl on the floor out of boredom; old people sleep in a wheelchair under a tent at a temperature of 39 degrees; and entire families trying to save their summer trip by begging for a ticket from those in line: flying from Amsterdam is chaos, exacerbated by the heat today.
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is the third busiest airport in international traffic passengers, but since May it has also been one of the most chaotic departure points Europe: The lines at the checkpoints are winding lines with no beginning or end, and waiting for them takes about five hours.
Schiphol urges not to go to the airport more than four hours before departure flightbut in many cases it is a guarantee of losing the plane, because the lines, with only hand luggage, not counting the check-in queue, exceed 4 hours, as Efe was able to check on Tuesday at a Dutch airfield.
“I was four and a half hours and a few people slipped me because I asked them for a favor, but most likely I will lose flight because they’ve already started boarding and I’m still waiting,” says Olga, who flies to Barcelona with Transavia and is desperately trying to convince other passengers to let her through.
Behind him is a 70-year-old Italian woman who has been in a wheelchair for four hours. His destination is Rome, he is traveling with carry-on luggage and will spend the whole day in Schiphol because, he says, he has already seen long waiting lines on the news. “FROM heatwe didn’t want to risk eating something here and waiting for six hours,” his daughter says.
The scene at the airport is full of chaos and unrest. A young woman is crying because she might lose her flight to the United States, and travelers don’t let him get ahead of the line because “everyone is late, they’re all the same,” he shouts in English through tears to the staff Schiphol which manages the wait.
Asking them for help goes unheeded as they are not responsible for the chaos resulting from the lack of security personnel, luggage and cleaning, which their superiors have not been able to fix despite dialogue with the unions: they are demanding higher wages, better hours and reducing workload, but so far only a few patches have been achieved that do not solve the situation, for example, an additional payment for working in the summer.
“Sorry, there’s nothing I can do, you can talk to people and see if they let you in,” says one staff member ahead of a passenger’s complaint that “only has 15 minutes left before the boarding gate to get close.” about his flight to Madrid.
Flying with pets is another odyssey: you have to be at least four hours in advance, cage the dog that travels in the hold, check in and leave it alone until you get to your destination, which means between waiting and a short flight , at least eight hours without food and without the opportunity to relieve themselves.
That is, if everything goes according to plan, without delays and losses: stamps at the airport in recent months are overwhelmed and lost suitcases that no one picks up and whose owners can be anywhere in the world, waiting for their luggage to return home.
Chaotic summer at the airport
at the moment, Schiphol suggested that the summer would be chaotic and asked airlines to cancel flights or divert them to other local airports to reduce the number of passengers passing through Amsterdam.
A maximum of 67,500 travelers are allowed daily departures in July and 72,500 in August, Schiphol group president Dick Benshop confirmed.
The organization of travel agencies, ANVR, will go to court to force Schiphol make amends, as he fears the agencies will run into financial trouble if they have to make amends to victims.
At the moment, Schiphol set up a tent outside passengers line up in the shade, especially on a day when the heat has raised the temperature above 100 degrees.
In addition, in order to alleviate discomfort and, above all, avoid heat stroke, Schiphol Along the way, he handed out ice cream, soft drinks, and water. The bad drink comes when travelers see that, despite a four-hour wait and more than two years of the pandemic without being able to go on vacation, they missed their flight.
(EFE)
Source: RPP
I’m Liza Grey, an experienced news writer and author at the Buna Times. I specialize in writing about economic issues, with a focus on uncovering stories that have a positive impact on society. With over seven years of experience in the news industry, I am highly knowledgeable about current events and the ways in which they affect our daily lives.