etiene

Thanks, that's what I thought. Guess I'll have to bring up the Flying Blue pass rather than the BP from the lock screen to assuage the Dragon. Does make me appreciate those airlines who change the BP colour to indicate status/class of travel. Certainly seems like it would save the Dragons time and aggravation at the entrance to make things easier to determine at a glance - Wife had one who was a bit sharp with her having not seen the red SP logo first time round.

johan rebel

I'm now in the same boat plane as you.

Late incoming aircraft - slow boarding - not enough overhead space for all those steamer trunks - ½ an hour after STD we were ready to go. Captain shows up, tells us that due to "fog in Amsterdam" we will be holding on the ground for at least another 25 minutes. Funny thing is, visibility at Schiphol is 32 kilometers.


Vast majority of pax have connection and will soon be on tenterhooks, if they are not already.

OT, but when I boarded I saw that the cabin divider was incorrectly positioned. It took a while longer for the purser to notice, by which time three gentlemen traveling together had taken their seats in front of the divider. The purser upgraded one of them "because you are a lifetime Platinum Elite", and moved the divider, but promised the less fortunate two coffee later.

Johan

Fabo.sk

In the morning (up until 11ish) it was indeed quite bad at Amsterdam.

As you can see the fog started clearing by 10, but stayed present mainly to the northwest of the airport. particularly at 10:55 it is visible that while runways in the complex around the terminal have visibility of more than 2000 meters, the Polderbaan is still at 900.

Leedsflyer

Two data points from Monday April 26 2022:
1) Got to Schipol train station at 1650. No check at end of travelator; flying LH to Frankfurt with *G. Only 5 people ahead of me at the priority security. In lounge in less than 15 mins
2) Same arrival time at Schipol trainstation, my wife and daughter flying with no status back to the UK. 90 mins to clear security. Both their flights delayed, in one case by ~3 hours (apparently caused by bad weather elsewhere in Europe earlier in the day).

b12e

Data from half a year ago isn't very relevant I'm afraid😄

HadesNL

This could take a while .....

https://nos.nl/artikel/2446462-schip...tot-maart-2023

- Schiphol laat tot eind maart 2023 minder passagiers vertrekken die in Nederland opstappen. In de vakantieweken zal het gaan om gemiddeld 50.000 personen, in de overige weken 46.000, dat is 13 procent minder dan voor corona. Schiphol zegt dat eind december zal worden bekeken of er vanaf eind januari "wellicht meer mogelijk is." -

Roughly translated:
Untill March 2023, Amsterdam Schiphol airport will restrict the amount of departing passengers.
- designated holiday periods : less 50.000
- other weeks : less 46.000
End of December Schiphol will evaluate if end January things might improve...

Normally,
Schiphol will take national designated schoolholidays and public holidays as designated holiday periods:
https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwe...ties-2022-2023


Upcoming national school holidays for 2022 - 2023 :
the usual cause of strain on airport resources or an advise to keep away to avoid despair



Almost a famous Dutch Farce : G.A. Bredero's de klucht van de koe

Sjoerd

Never have I seen such incompetence as Schiphol’s current management.

maalloc

Data point from this evening. Today @18:30, you could hear crickets chirping during border crossing:



On an even brighter side, I'm glad to report that lounge 52 went "full Greta" on us. All hot meals options were proudly 100% plant-based (meatless bolognese, ratatouille, or Chili Sin Carne).
For adult drinks, only one stand was open with 10+ pax queue (didn't time it).
Upstairs closed "because weather" (???)

b12e

Ahh, the infamous indoor weather! Very dangerous indeed. Better stay away!

That said, full greta in the lounge is exactly what I expected KL to do, and another reason to avoid their lounges. Let's hope AF retains a little bit of common sense and keeps their lounges the way they are. I can appreciate these mini baguettes avec jambon from time to time when going via CDG. A no-nonsense snack in between flights, especially if one of the flights was a KL operated one out of AMS with Wanders boxes.

maalloc

As Fabo.sk reported this morning, with a visibility around 2000M, I certainly wouldn't take a chance to open the terrace ! You never know when a a wild cumulus can come up in the lounge.

Plus, the full vegan options probably protect us from Omicron 2.5.XXX and Monkeypox. Safety first.

supersympa

Thanks for sharing the news HadesNL
looks like tomorrow new attempt via AMS will be my last one for the year!

HadesNL

Enjoy and savour the experience!
Hope all will go well though but it can indeed but a wrench in one's plans now that uncertainties are staying with us untill the festive season!

johan rebel

Bit late in the day, but couldn't find the time any earlier.

- arrived on a delayed flight (what else is new?). Most pax had onward flights, of course. The purser rattled off a list of short connections, advising the pax concerned to "go straight to the gate". Top of the list was a 2.05 p.m. departure from B26, and we pulled in at C13 at 1.46. Hmm . . . good luck with that! The two pax for that flight and one other were moved up to J with their carry-ons, and disembarked first. I was in no hurry, so stayed in my seat while those who were running out of time made a mad dash for it. Unsurprisingly, there were several inconsiderate pax who blocked the aisle while struggling to drag their steamer cases down from the overhead lockers. Once off the plane, I was treated to the spectacle of pax in various stages of advanced decrepitude and/or with BMI values way in the red trying to do the one thing they were incapable of: running. They were scurrying in all directions, and dragging along those wheeled steamer trunks did not make things easier.

- T2/T3 transfers could only be described as a disaster zone.





- S/NS immigrations: half the eGates open, all had long lines. Three manned booths open, the line only filled about three or four tensabarrier loops, but moved slowly. The short connection lane was open, every now and then a pax would run down it at full speed.

- KLM Crown Lounge 25 was very busy, but not packed.

- Travelators/stairs/elevator from Plaza to departures not policed.



- sign to the back door has reappeared. Three agents were checking eligibility.



- tents not in use, but the line for the regular security access point near door F stretched all the way into T1A. In the hall between T1 and T1A (the one with the crew center entrance) the line did as many tensabarrier loops as space allowed.

- amazingly, there was no line at all for the other regular access point behind the T2 KLM regular check-in desks. Only a intermittent trickle of passengers headed up the stairs.

- both KLM check-in areas quiet.

- T1/T2 car drop-off zone was rather quiet, plenty of vacant spots available.

Johan

johan rebel

Maybe war, runaway inflation, the energy crisis and resurgent Covid hysteria will conspire to do the job for them.

Johan

johan rebel

I'm not against vegetarian food on principle, it can be very tasty and healthy, but I just can't stand having it literally rammed down my throat by woke eco wackos or greenwashing ESG executives.

Johan