The on-time performance for outbound flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport was below 50% in late June, the government said on Tuesday, with passengers facing waits of more than 3 hours at midday on June 20. The information was made public by the Dutch Ministry of Transportation after parliament demanded weekly updates on the situation at Schiphol following severe delays at the airport in April and May. Like many major European airports, Schiphol is suffering from staff shortages, particularly among security workers and baggage handlers. In June the airport moved to cap the number of passengers it can accept at around 16% below 2019 levels. In a letter to parliament, Transportation Minister Mark Harbers said in the week of June 20-June 26, the on-time performance for outbound flights was 23%-48%. On-time performance measures whether a flight occurs within 15 minutes of its scheduled arrival or departure time. <br/>
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Airlines serving Amsterdam Schiphol airport said the hub’s move to cut capacity amid staffing shortages has seen it pressure them to switch to smaller planes or leave seats empty. Air Serbia has been asked to reduce occupancy levels by about 28% on flights to Belgrade from July 7, it said in an email. Latvia’s AirBaltic Corp AS said Tuesday it has also been asked to curb passenger loads on outbound services from the Dutch base. Schiphol, one of western Europe’s four main hubs prior to the coronavirus pandemic, has been among the airports hardest hit by shortages of security staff and other workers as travel demand rapidly rebounds. It last month capped summer passenger numbers almost 20% below usual levels to avoid the chaos of last-minute delays and cancellations, leading to the mass elimination of flights from schedules at carriers including KLM and EasyJet. Air Serbia said that it had written to Schiphol asking it to reconsider the requirements for reducing seating. It and AirBaltic both said that they’re considering legal action to seek compensation from the airport operator. The Serbian firm, which operates nine weekly flights from Amsterdam, said the restrictions would cause it “great financial and reputational damage” due to the number of booked passengers who couldn’t be re-accommodated. A spokesperson for Schiphol said the airport is asking various airlines to reduce capacity in line with the passenger cap for July and August aimed at avoiding “unmanageable queues.”<br/>
Staff at an aviation fuel services firm at London’s Heathrow airport have voted to carry out a strike over pay, the Unite union said on Tuesday, in Britain’s latest industrial action that threatens more disruption to transport services. About 93% of union members at Aviation Fuel Services who voted were in favour of a strike after having gone without a pay hike for three years, Unite said, adding that an initial 72-hour strike would begin July 21. The union said a strike is likely to cause “considerable disruption and delays” throughout Heathrow where AFS provides fuelling services to more than 70 airlines including Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, United, Delta and Air France and KLM. AFS referred a request for comment to Heathrow. A Heathrow spokesperson said that the airport was aware of the proposed strike action.<br/>