Frustrated travelers waited in hours-long lines at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands on Monday, after months of complaints about long lines and missed flights.
According to airport policy, passengers can enter the departure hall up to four hours before their flight. On social media, passengers have complained that security lines take longer than four hours, resulting in missed flights.
A video shared by Tamara van Esch, a musician traveling to tour in Cyprus, shows huge crowds of travelers waiting in lines outside the airport. Because the lines take more than four hours, people miss their flights and they can’t get their money back and then have to find back their luggage in a pile of 16.000 suitcases, Van Esch wrote on Twitter.
The airport launched a recruitment drive at the end of May, with a view to easing wait times. On July 8, airport officials announced an additional recruitment drive for about 200 security personnel. An agreement was also reached between Schiphol and the trade unions, including a summer bonus.
The past few weeks have been busy at Schiphol. And these crowds will continue during the summer months. More security guards are needed to ensure that as many people as possible can travel comfortably and safely, and to reduce queues and waiting times for travellers, the airport said in a statement.
