Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is set to lift its passenger cap in two months in time for the busy summer travel period. From March 26th, the airport will no longer restrict daily passenger movements, although it still anticipates challenges during the peak morning hours.

Amsterdam Schiphol to scrap passenger limit in March

The airport will finally remove its passenger cap after nine months of capacity restrictions. Since June 2022, Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) has enforced a limit on daily passenger movements - as Simple Flying readers may remember, Schiphol was one of the worst-hit European airports during last year's period of travel chaos, experiencing severe delays, cancelations, and overcrowding due to a lack of staff.

Ruud Sondag, CEO at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, said,

"I am happy for our travelers, employees and airlines with the progress we have made together. It looks good towards May holidays. From the start of the 2023 season at the end of March, we will continue to scale up and we will do so in a sensible and phased manner, in the interest of those same travelers, employees and airlines."

Photo: Wut_Moppie/Shutterstock

In the airport's own words, restrictions are currently "no longer necessary" as it is coping just fine the majority of the time following a major recruitment drive and "better work instructions and smarter organization." However, the airport could soon find itself reinforcing flight restrictions due to a government plan to limit noise and air pollution - the measures, expected to come into effect in November, will lead to around a 12% cut in flights to 440,000 flights per year, a move that has been condemned by IATA.

Peak time measures

While the passenger experience at Schiphol is mostly back to normal, during peak morning travel hours (06:00 to 11:00), the airport can still find itself overwhelmed. In order to mitigate this, AMS warns that "extra effort is required from all parties" to prevent long queues and delays.

Ruud Sondag added,

"We are not going to take any risks. We want to once again offer the quality and certainty that everyone can expect of Schiphol. That's why we are working with our partners at the airport to tackle the remaining bottlenecks as we head towards the May holidays and beyond."

Photo: Aerovista Luchtfotografie/Shutterstock

AMS will conduct further talks in the coming weeks, in particular with airlines, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee police, and handling agents, to devise measures to handle the peak-time flow of passengers and prevent a repeat of last year.

Recruitment drive pays off

Much of the travel disruption seen at AMS was down to chronic staff shortages - as passenger numbers rapidly bounced back in 2022, airports were unable to cope, leading to an unprecedented level of cancelations and delays. In response, AMS launched a major recruitment drive in November 2022 to bring in up to 850 security officers - the airport has managed to recruit around half of this number so far and estimates it will cover remaining shortages in the coming weeks and months.

The airport also reached a key agreement with trade unions FNV and CNV in October to provide better working conditions and up to a 40% increase in pay for security staff.

Have you flown out of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS) in the past few months? Has the passenger experience improved since last year's travel chaos? Let us know in the comments.