Shortage of staff: Airports and airlines are taking new measures to limit traffic

Struck by staff shortages, Amsterdam and London airports have taken steps to limit the number of daily passengers.

Overcrowding, lack of staff … Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport announced on Tuesday that it would extend the ceiling on the number of flights in September and October when it expects to receive a large number of passengers during the autumn holidays, of which it will be fears they won’t be able to handle it, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The largest Dutch airport has been applying the measure since July, when it asked airlines to reduce their summer flights to reduce waiting times, which had increased significantly due to staff shortages. Covid traffic.

The airport will also renew other measures, notably asking passengers not to go to the boarding counters more than four hours before their flight.

As a result of these measures to limit traffic in Amsterdam-Shipol, the Dutch company KLM has announced that it will reduce the number of tickets available in the autumn.

“KLM does not anticipate that cancellations will be necessary to comply with the limit on the number of passengers boarding locally, the company said. However, fewer seats than usual will be available on the Dutch market.”

British Airways is suspending ticket sales for short flights

Amsterdam Airport is not the only one affected by these logistical difficulties. In July, London Heathrow Airport, also a victim of the labor shortage, asked airlines to stop selling tickets for the summer season to cap the number of passengers to the airport for two months, starting at 100,000 a day, or 4,000 fewer than its forecasts.

For its part, the British company British Airways, which is finding it difficult to cope with the resumption of traffic and has already loosened up its flight program, in particular due to a lack of staff, has suspended ticket sales for its short flights until at least Monday at Heathrow airport. “We have decided to take a responsible step” as “the entire airline industry” faces the challenge of reviving demand, British Airways said in a statement shared with AFP on Tuesday.

That includes giving more options to customers who already have a ticket and are being forced to change their reservation, said the company, which has recently canceled many flights. British Airways had already been operating a reduced flight program for a number of months and in early July it also announced that it would cancel an additional 10,300 flights by the end of October, bringing the summer season reduction to 13%.