Schiphol queues: Airport slammed for flight cancellations and four hour delays as lines build again

Queues are building again at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport after more than 80 flights were cancelled on Monday.

Lines stretched hundreds of metres outside the terminal doors yesterday, as the beleaguered airport asked multiple airlines to cancel flights from 4pm onwards.

In addition to the cancellations - intended to ease stress on the terminal - around 650 flights were delayed.

Schiphol Airport blamed the chaos on a lack of security staff in the airport. The airport expects a “more manageable day” today, a spokesperson told NL Times.

The airport is less busy today than it was yesterday, though the queues are currently building.

On Monday, Schiphol attributed the long queues to security staffing issues.

“Staffing levels at security today are lower than what Schiphol had requested of the security companies,” an airport spokesperson said.

“As a result, there is a shortage of security personnel and the number of waiting travellers is increasing, especially in Departures 3.”

“Unfortunately there is a chance that travellers will miss their flight due to long waiting times,” they added.

The shortages come as security staff look elsewhere for jobs. During July and August, employees received an extra of €5.25 allowance per hour.

Now that the bonus period is over, staff are quitting in droves, claimed union Joost van Doesburg, a representative for the Netherlands Trade Union confederation.

“Many staff came especially for this allowance. The summer allowance has thus helped to cope with the summer problems but has not helped make the problems at Schiphol disappear in a sustainable way,” he said.

The airport apologised for the situation and the “disappointment” it would cause.

It was cold comfort to thousands of frustrated travellers, many of