Schiphol, KLM and the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee look back on the May holiday with satisfaction. All three praise the joint efforts and cooperation that ensured travellers had a pleasant journey.
'A top performance by everyone who works at the airport'
Patricia Vitalis, Executive Director Airport Operations at Schiphol said "It's fantastic to see that all our joint efforts helped the May holiday to go smoothly. Thanks to the good flow of travellers, many of them will have probably not even realised how incredibly busy it was. We were well prepared, but so were our travellers. I am proud of all the employees who contributed to this great result. We've made a good start to the holiday season and I'm looking forward to the summer."
Maarten Stienen, COO & Managing Director at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines said "The May holiday is becoming an increasingly popular time to go on holiday among Dutch people. Our aircraft were full. Thanks to the efforts of all KLM employees, as well as those working for Schiphol, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee and LVNL, we were able to give passengers a pleasant journey from the airport. This was our first peak moment before the busy summer holidays. I am pleased with how it went, and I am confident we will have a good summer."
Colonel Jeffrey van Horn, Coordinator Schiphol at Royal Netherlands Marechaussee said "For us, the May holiday is the busiest time of year. I am proud that we managed to ensure that a busy May holiday was a manageable one. Border work is a real specialism, and no matter how busy it gets, we do not make any concessions when it comes to security at Schiphol. This year, we received additional support from colleagues from other Marechaussee brigades at Schiphol, ensuring we always had sufficient staff at the counters. Initially, our capacity was primarily focused on departing passengers, but at the end of the holiday, we shifted this to arriving passengers."
Before the May holiday, these three parties worked closely with all other partners at the airport to prepare. They shared relevant data with each other, looked at how best to deal with peak moments and worked together to inform passengers about their journey in a timely and effective manner. All parties kept in close contact throughout the May holiday, including at the Airport Operations Centre.
Facts & figures
Almost 788,000 departing and transfer passengers flew KLM during the May holiday. 415,000 KLM travellers arrived at Schiphol during 26 April until 12 May. Transavia transported 145,000 departing and 135,000 arriving holidaymakers.Average number of passengers per day (all airlines): 71,000 departures, 62,400 arrivals and 57,300 transfers.95% of departing travellers went through the security check within 9 minutes.15% of travellers made use of the option to book a time slot. On some days that was even 25%.The total number of flights during the period 26 April to 12 May (all airlines): 22,363.
