Operations resume at Schiphol airport but delays continue
ADVERTISEMENTAfter passengers faced long delays at Schiphol, the Amsterdam airport said on Thursday evening that everything was almost back to normal.
"The queues at transfer desks and ticket counters have decreased. Our expectation is that most travellers will be re-booked through their respective airlines today," Schiphol's statement read.
Planes were grounded on Wednesday (July 24) because of problems with the airports refuelling system.
More than 310 flights were cancelled and hundreds more delayed, according to the website Flightradar24.
Although the technical problems were resolved on Wednesday evening, delays continued well into Thursday afternoon, with disruptions through the day.
KLM, the main airline at Schiphol, said it had cancelled 61 flights on Thursday.
This week is one of the busiest during the holiday season at Schiphol, with around 225,000 passengers scheduled to travel through Europe's third-largest airport.
"Planes at Schiphol cannot be refuelled right now," the airport statement said on Wednesday evening. "Aircraft Fuel Supply, a third-party company that controls aircraft fuel supply, currently has a fault in their system. As a result, your flights may be delayed or cancelled by your airline.|
At around 9:30 pm Wednesday, the airport announced on Twitter that the fuel system was starting "cautiously and gradually."
Flightradar24 reported that flights had begun leaving Schiphol Airport at just after 11 pm local time, but said delays remained "very big".
On Thursday, airlines tried to get their schedules back on track.
“Many passengers have to find new flights, which is kind of a puzzle,” a Schiphol spokesman said.
“People are slowly getting on their way, but it is still very crowded at the airport.”