KLM is cancelling all European AMS-bound flights tonight because it's too busy at Schiphol: https://nos.nl/artikel/2431451-klm-v...-naar-schiphol

By 15:30, the app was suggesting I head to the airport for a 17:30 flight 🤣
Now it's rebooked me to Monday afternoon.

I just couldn't be bothered waiting on the phone so just booked the train myself. I have submitted a claim for that cost, as well as the €250 compensation.

There may, of course, end up being a free seat on one of tomorrow's flights, but I don't want to hang around all day waiting in suspense.

I also got a €15 food voucher usable at the airport, but I won't get to use that. It is supposedly valid for 48hrs so no point trying on my next visit!

this seems... Stupid? What bottlenecks, other than luggage, do inbound EU pax cause?

Well if they are on a connecting flight that's been cancelled then they'd be clogging the system in Amsterdam. Depending on the outstation they may be able to be rebooked onto another airline to their destination. Reportedly planes are flying back empty tonight, so I wonder if they also leave pax with destination AMS behind, but it almost sounds like it.
At least this shouldn't affect flights ex-AMS tomorrow morning since the planes should be back home.

mfkne
Thanks for the warning!
Just as George Takei would say " Oh....My"......

Time to get the popcorn out....

The news just popped into my feed too : https://www.nu.nl/economie/6204764/k...temmingen.html

cause: wrong direction of winds and maintenance on runways
"de luchthaven. Door de ongunstige windrichting en beperkte baancapaciteit"

EDIT:
from the comments of nu.nl

Ik begrijp iets niet. Door weersomstandigheden en onderhoud aan een landingsbaan kunnen wel lege vliegtuigen landen, maar geen vliegtuigen met passagiers???

Dat leeg terug vliegen van vliegtuigen zou niets te maken hebben met de drukte door passagiers? Wat een onzin. Ze zijn kennelijk niet eens in staat om een goede leugen te verzinnen. Dit is allemaal zo doorzichtig als wat!

translated: how can weather and runway maintenance impair the landing of aircraft filled with passengers and the only solution is to fly and land aircraft without passengers.....
it's a vicious lie and it is so see through...

irishguy28 : hope you can make it safely home .....
all alternative transports to Amsterdam (bus&train&other airlines must be overrun by last minute KLM passengers)

especially as KLM says that Sunday will be tricky aswell....
let alone Monday when most Dutchies are returning home.....

I'm bracing myself for my morning flight with my 3-year-old tomorrow. :rolleyes:

but this creates a ton of other pax who need to be accommodated for and rebooked now, they're just spread around Europe

What a ...... airport and airline.

I feel sorry for all those who are unable to fly to their destination tonight I also feel sorry for the check-in staff at all those stations who have to tell them KL has decided not to fly passengers to AMS tonight.......

It's precisely because the pax are "spread around" that should actually help. There are options available around Europe that aren't available in Schiphol right now. I imagine there probably aren't any hotel rooms available anywhere around Schiphol either, so bringing connecting pax to Schiphol would be awful right now.

Don't understand why they won't carry those terminating in AMS - probably to avoid the scenario of rioting connecting pax when they are turned away even as others are allowed to board.

Absolutely brilliant!

I bet the KMar will be very pleased with all the extra pax going from Schengen to non-Schengen and back. They are just picking their noses at the immigration checkpoints, it should make for a nice change to finally get to check some passports.

Johan

Reading all this I am so very very happy I didn't book KL for my trip today.

I usually try to go Skyteam, but the only real option was via AMS, decided to go via MAD instead and just not risk it.

I really feel sorry for everyone affected, and good luck to everyone needing to make other arrangements.

And that has happened before, so they do have that option available. Pre-covid during some of the 'storms' that were disrupting flight departures, they would fly half-empty aircraft to AMS: Terminating pax only.

Also...if connecting flights out of AMS are indeed cancelled, then would those pax not be rebooked onto other options (Via CDG perhaps?) anyway? Meaning that the connecting pax for which their flight is cancelled likely would not fly to AMS anyway?

Of course that requires them to actually cancel flights some time before, and have some sort of process to automatically rebook onto other airlines. Dunno... maybe I'm expecting too much.

I think it is a sad but logical decision. If hotel rooms are sold out, no seats available for pax that have to be rebooked from previous flights onto a new flight that is maybe departing tomorrow at best, you are consolidating many pax at AMS and with the current staff shortage it’s better that many sleep in their own beds as well. It is also the most customer friendly solution despite the sad circumstances.
Everyone here loves to moan about KL and AMS but I do not see what other options KL has actually.

that sounds great in theory but all flights, also ex CDG and from other airlines, have a high load these days so I don’t think it’s an option.