Wait times fluctuate at Schiphol during peak travel day
Travelers at Schiphol said lines moved relatively quickly on Sunday morning, although one Twitter user reported that it took him and fellow travelers four hours to even enter the airport. Sunday is a peak travel day, but wait times fluctuate from hour to hour, an airport spokesperson told the NL Times.
The airport’s average wait time is approximately 45 to 60 minutes, but it is “very hard to say” what the duration will be at any given moment, a Schiphol spokesperson said. “That’s because we have moments during the day where the waiting times are longer than other times.”
Tweets from early Sunday morning show that many people had a relatively easy time passing through the airport. Around 5:45 a.m., one Twitter user shared a picture of a “huge” line which they said was nevertheless moving quickly. An hour later, another person reported that there was no line outside Departure Hall 3.
June 19th 5:45 am in Schipol . It is a huge line , however it moved relatively fast. #schipholchaos pic.twitter.com/FzGJUnVfzq
— Laura (@lcruzg797) June 19, 2022
No line outside at T3 this morning at 6:30am @Schiphol #schipol through security into the departure hall in about 20 minutes. pic.twitter.com/QYrGrXYVLR
— cracklepopp (@cracklepopp) June 19, 2022
“Very happy with my experience getting through security @Schiphol this morning – fast, professional, cheerful and obviously hardworking staff!” tweeted user Marieke van Erp at 8 a.m. By mid-morning, the security area in Departure Hall 3 was reportedly crowded, but no lines had formed yet outside the building.
@Schiphol At departure 3 for an international flight – security is crowded but no long lines outside the airport. pic.twitter.com/nuxwkC6plQ
— Ursallah Shah (@Ursallah) June 19, 2022
However, around noon photos showed longer lines forming in one of the departure halls. The lines were shown to stretch outside the building, where the airport has set up temporary canopies to provide shade to waiting travelers.
— Olaf1967 (@Olaf1967DH) June 19, 2022
Twitter user Pablo Rodriguez said he missed his flight after waiting in a line that was over a kilometer long on Saturday. “What everyone saw today is an international embarrassment of The Netherlands and this is just a little teaser,” Rodriguez told the NL Times in a tweet. “So, sure…no problem? How they can get away with that?”
He was referring to the airport’s comment yesterday that there were no problems, despite the long lines of people waiting in the heat. “We provide water where necessary and luckily the rows continue well,” a spokesperson told the ANP on Saturday, which was the hottest day of the year so far.
“Most of the travelers who travel through our airport do catch their planes, but it does happen that people miss their flights,” an airport spokesperson told the NL Times. “I don’t know how many people. It is different every day…it does happen frequently.”
The queues at @Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam are 4 (FOUR) hours long. 4 hours to even enter the airport. Why? No staff.
Post-COVID, it feels lucky to be living in apna Bharat. #HumanityTour pic.twitter.com/dJt4QJLmmX
— Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri (@vivekagnihotri) June 19, 2022
The airport is understaffed and has been struggling to deal with crowds in recent months. Schiphol announced on Thursday that it would process fewer passengers this summer, meaning that airlines must sell fewer tickets and cancel many of their flights. Travel industry association ANVR is furious that the airport is putting this problem on airlines’ plates, while Dutch consumer association Consumentenbond may claim damages on behalf of travelers whose holidays could be ruined.
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