Thousands still stuck at Schiphol airport as problems persist into Thursday
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Thousands of passengers were left with few options at Schiphol Airport as hundreds of inbound and outbound flights were cancelled or faced hours-long delays. “The situation is not expected to improve until tomorrow morning,” said Eurocontrol on Wednesday just before 4:30 p.m. and again at about 8 p.m.
Eventually the third-party refuelling system at the heart of the airport’s difficult Wednesday was restarted, but it was likely to only be brought back online in stages
The airport planned to use two runways overnight to get the hundreds of delayed departures into the air as quickly as possible.
No planes had been refuelled on Wednesday since about 1 p.m. It began affecting flights less than 90 minutes later. As the gates filled up with airplanes unable to depart, the airport began running out of options to accommodate more aircraft.
Passengers were still stuck inside seventy planes parked at the Polderbaan runway and at other locations. An airport spokesperson said those planes had functional air conditioning, keeping the planes cool as outside air temperatures rose well above 39 degrees.
Available hotel rooms in the Amsterdam area were also becoming scarcer and scarcer, according to available options on hotel booking sites Kayak.com, Booking.com, and Hotels.com. Airport workers were expected to set up cots in the departure halls as the crowds began to depart on their flights, or as passengers left the airport for local homes and hotels.
