The Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam has registered a substantial increase in the number of tourists that are passing through its doors.
According to the authorities of the airport, these numbers in the summer have almost returned to the levels recorded in 2019, before coronavirus restrictions were imposed.
Statement from Schiphol
The airport took to issuing a statement and revealed that from the period starting from the 7th of July and ending on the 3rd of September, Schiphol welcomed around 3.7 million departing passengers.
Consequently, the airport management successfully handled an average of 1,339 aircraft movements daily, along with a total number of 79,000 flights.
Based on the number of departing passengers, the airport further concluded that the summer season of 2023 was almost as busy as the corresponding period in 2019.
Airport statistics
A statement released by the Amsterdam airport revealed that 95% of the passengers leaving the country underwent security checks in only eight minutes.
Moreover, the average wait time at security control was found to be just three minutes. The credit for this impressive figure was given to the preparation of travelers beforehand.
Meanwhile, the airport management took to instating more than 1,000 employees in the security department, while it had only intended to bring in 850 people.
As per the Schiphol Airport, various foreign travelers were able to benefit from its booking facility, which allowed them to reserve specific times for their security checks.
Consequently, a significant number of people availed of this facility, and up to 668,000 slots were booked in advance.
It was further revealed that out of the total number of passengers, 98% opted to pre-book their security check slots and expressed that they were highly satisfied with the service.
Furthermore, the airport authorities have revealed that they are currently working on coming up with pre-booking facilities for check-in and passport control processes as well.
Top destinations
During the summer season of 2023, various locations, such as Istanbul, Barcelona, and London, emerged as the top choice for city trip destinations among foreign tourists.
Meanwhile, most vacationers chose to opt for countries like Spain, Greece, and Great Britain for their getaways.
Despite the success of the management of the Schiphol Airport over the summer holidays, people have reported that its staff has become somewhat complacent.
Some arriving travelers stated that they had to stand in longer than anticipated queues for passport control or face delays when collecting their luggage.
As a result, the Amsterdam airport sprang into action and started collaborations with various baggage handling companies.
Consequently, they worked together to come up with two innovative technologies that were specifically designed to aid in increasing employee efficiency for the purpose of handling baggage.
One of these possibilities was to develop a robot specifically for the airport, which would replace a baggage handler. Thus, the robot would lift suitcases and perform other related tasks to maximize efficiency.
Just a month later, the authorities at the airport made the decision to launch a pilot project, which went on for two weeks.
The airport then purchased 19 baggage robots and successfully tackled the problem at hand.
