KLM Halts Ticket Sales at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport

DALLAS - Due to staff shortages, Dutch airline KLM (KL) has suspended ticket sales for flights from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) between now and Monday.

Gerrie Brand, an Air France-KLM spokesperson, said that due to AMS' security issues, KL put a hold on ticket sales for flights departing until and including Sunday from its main international hub.

From Friday to Sunday, new flight sales are capped to allow airline employees to accommodate passengers who have missed flights in recent days on alternate departures.

According to airline personnel, the limits do not apply to premium reservations.

All the airport's six runways are viewed from an airplane taking off at dawn. Photo: By Adenosine Triphosphate - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

Staffing Woes to Continue

In recent weeks, cues at Amsterdam's air transport hub - the European Union's second-largest - have stretched for hours, with airport management blaming chronic staff shortages for the issues.

Over 500 planes were delayed and over 50 were canceled from Schiphol on Monday alone. On Tuesday, some customers reported waiting six hours to clear security, according to social media posts.

Trade unions representing Schiphol workers are considering strike action on June 1st, claiming that "something has to change" before staff's health and safety are jeopardized. Separately, the airport's management company, Royal Schiphol Group NV, said it had a plan in place to hire more workers and improve passenger flow in order to cut wait times.

The long lines are expected to continue into the summer, according to a representative for AMS' airport authorities, telling Nu.nl that the crowding would last "Up to and including the summer," and adding that "it will be comparable to the situation during the May holidays."

ACI Europe, the European airports association, warned earlier this month that airport and aircraft delays and disruptions would continue until summer 2022 and beyond. According to ACI research, two-thirds of the continent's airports expect flight delays to grow, and more than a third predict staff shortages will hamper operations during the summer and beyond.

Featured image: PH-BHL, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner @KSLC. Photo: Michael Rodeback/Airways