(24 Jun 2022)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4385611
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Amsterdam, Netherlands - 21 June 2022
1. Passengers queuing at Schiphol Airport
HEADLINE: POST-PANDEMIC AIRPORT CHAOS HITS EUROPEAN TRAVELERS
2. Various of passengers queuing
ANNOTATION: This a common scene at the moment across major European airports at the moment. Long lines, lengthy delays and canceled flights.
3. Passegers in terminal
ANNOTATION: Passengers are flooding back as global pandemic restrictions ease.
4. Various of luggage being loaded onto plane
ANNOTATION: Airlines and airports had slashed jobs during the COVID-19 crisis, but are now struggling to manage.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
London, United Kingdom - 23 June 2022
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Henk Ombelet, Head of Finance at Cirium:
"It takes quite a long time for airlines and airports to recruit, train and get security clearance for their staff. So it'll be a few months before the main crunch points are over."
6. Various of queues at security control at Heathrow Airport
ANNOTATION: Thousands of flights at European airports were canceled during one week this month.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Amsterdam, Netherlands - 21 June 2022
7. Passengers walking
8. Pan right to line at Amsterdam Schipol Airport
ANNOTATION: Labor strife is also causing problems. Strikes have already disrupted travel, with more planned for next month.
STORYLINE:
The airport lines are long, and lost luggage is piling up.
It's going to be a chaotic summer for travelers in Europe.
After two years of pandemic restrictions, travel demand has roared back, but airlines and airports that slashed jobs during the depths of the COVID-19 crisis are struggling to keep up.
With the busy summer tourism season underway in Europe, passengers are encountering chaotic scenes at airports, including lengthy delays, canceled flights and headaches over lost luggage.
Schiphol, the Netherlands' busiest airport, is trimming flights, saying there are thousands of airline seats per day above the capacity that security staff can handle.
Dutch carrier KLM apologized for stranding passengers there this month.
It could be months before Schiphol has enough staff to ease the pressure, Ben Smith, CEO of airline alliance Air France-KLM, said Thursday.
London's Gatwick and Heathrow airports are asking airlines to cap their flight numbers.
Discount carrier easyJet is scrapping thousands of summer flights to avoid last-minute cancellations and in response to caps at Gatwick and Schiphol.
North American airlines wrote to Ireland's transport chief demanding urgent action to tackle "significant delays" at Dublin's airport.
Nearly 2,000 flights from major continental European airports were canceled during one week this month, with Schiphol accounting for nearly 9%, according to data from aviation consultancy Cirium.
A further 376 flights were canceled from U.K. airports, with Heathrow accounting for 28%, Cirium said.
Henk Ombelet, the head of finance at Cirium, said it will be a "few months before the main crunch points are over" citing recruitment, training and security clearances for new staff as one of the main setbacks.
The US Biden administration scrapping COVID-19 tests for people entering the US is giving an extra boost to pent-up demand for transatlantic travel.
For American travelers to Europe, the dollar strengthening against the euro and the pound is also a factor, by making hotels and restaurants more affordable.
At Heathrow, a sea of unclaimed luggage blanketed the floor of a terminal last week.
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