Travel organizations fear millions of euros in damage due to crowds at Schiphol. The airport has asked airlines to cancel reservations for this weekend and not to take new reservations for next week. “This is a huge mess”, says Frank Oostdam, chairman of the trade association ANVR.
It’s not yet clear whether the airlines will cancel this weekend, but the fear alone is adding work and costs to travel agents. Charges are due to booked accommodation remaining vacant due to canceled flights.
“The property will tell you that the guest’s no-show is not their problem,” says Oostdam. According to him, “very angry and furious” travel agents will try to repair the damage at Schiphol. “We don’t have a solution, but we didn’t cause this problem either.”
As a result of these actions, confidence in Schiphol is declining, which may affect the number of bookings with travel agencies. “The damage is much greater than you can imagine,” says the ANVR chairman. He says that if the problems continue, it could run into tens of millions of euros.
“Our companies have to deal with enormous costs,” says Oostdam. “After the KLM staff strike last weekend, we received an explosion of calls from concerned people who were about to go on holiday. There should be more staff in call centers.”
Source: NU
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
