Flight delays linger at Amsterdam Schiphol
July 25, 2019
Schiphol management advised travelers Thursday that rescheduling a backlog of flights would mean further delays while the exact cause of Wednesday's fuel outage remained unexplained.
"People are slowly getting on the way, but it is still very crowded at the airport," said a Schiphol spokesman.
Up to 30,000 passengers had been stranded Wednesday, with some complaining on social media about chaotic situations and a lack of information.
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The local Red Cross said 1,300 people spent the night on field beds in the aviation hub — Europe's third-largest airport by passenger volume.
The fault — which Schiphol attributed to third-party company Aircraft Fuel Supply — had been rectified on Wednesday evening and refueling was proceeding, the airport said.
Up until then, only one-third of usual flights had arrived. Even fewer had departed.
Further cancellations
KLM, the main Dutch airline at Schiphol, said it had cancelled 61 flights to and from Amsterdam on Thursday and advised customers to check flight information.
Some 225,000 passengers had been scheduled to transit Schiphol on Thursday.
Schiphol's disruption occured during a peak holiday period and coincided with Europe's second summer heat wave of the year, with temperatures up to 40° C (104°F) in many locations.
On Wednesday, airport spokesman Hans van Kastel told the Dutch broadcaster NOS that the fuel issue was not believed to be linked to the hot weather.
ipj/amp (AFP, dpa, Reuters)
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