–
With more than 700,000 passengers, Friday was the busiest day for Brussels Airport since the corona pandemic. Travelers had prepared for this, but one thing they had not taken into account.
–
ltoBron: RTL
Today at 11:57–
Anita was supposed to leave for Rome on Friday, but that didn’t go as planned. “We normally had a flight at 2:50 PM. We arrived at the airport more than two hours in advance. There were really long queues,” she says RTL. But that wasn’t the only surprise that awaited them. “Because once we wanted to check in, the girl behind the counter told us that our flight had been cancelled. We were not aware of this. We didn’t get a text or an email. It’s really outrageous. They are constantly changing the schedule,” she says.
The same goes for Rodrigo. The man has been stuck at the airport since Thursday: “The airline put us on a crowded flight and we waited for 2.45 hours to be told that we would not leave because of the bad weather. After that it was a technical problem. And then we were told that French and German airspace was saturated.”
Problems elsewhere too
It was not only difficult in Zaventem, there were also problems at Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Paris on Thursday and Friday. This will again be the case on Saturday at France’s largest airport. Dozens of flights have been canceled due to a strike at the fire service for more pay.
Access to the airport is not hindered, as was the case on Friday. Negotiations between management and unions yielded no results on Friday. According to union sources, the strike would also be the following weekend, the start of the summer holidays in France.
It is also very busy at Schiphol on Saturday. The rows of holidaymakers and other travelers stood far outside the departure halls from early in the morning. According to a reporter from the Dutch news agency ANP on site, most people seem to accept the crowds. There is no question of angry reactions from waiting travelers. However, many people seem concerned about whether they will make their flight.
There is also a lot of staff around to manage the passenger flows. A spokesman for the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee, responsible for airport security, reports that there have been no incidents.
—
