Airports in Europe and across the world choke, know what to do
Pack a lot of patience if you are travelling to these airports in Europe and across the world
Yes, other than your regular luggage and belongings, you will need a lot of patience if you are visiting any of these airports in the coming months. A number of airports in the world, especially Europe, have been choked up over the past months. Seemingly, airports in Europe and many other nations, including China and the United Kingdom, were not ready to tackle the sudden surge in the number of travellers as soon as COVID curbs relaxed.
In a gusto that resembles revenge travel, summer travellers have landed in Europe and around, and the airports are clearly short staffed. While London’s Heathrow saw piles of misplaced baggage and a frenzy unlike anytime before, Amsterdam’s Amsterdam Schiphol airport is in need of more security staff as well.
If you are keen to travel soon, you might want to avoid these airports, ranked in order of the percentage of scheduled flights delayed.
Toronto Pearson International Airport, Canada
Canada’s Toronto Pearson International Airport is facing days as tough as its counterparts in Europe, and the problems are evident here as well. Reportedly, on July 16, the tarmac here was too busy to equip any more flight landings and the chaos was visible from they sky! A number of flights were also delayed, with long queues and no place to sit for the passengers inside the airport.
Most of the problems at the airport have been attributed to staff shortage as COVID resulted in layoffs and contract cancellation of support staff at the airport in 2020. Apparently, the airport is not ready to equip the current sudden spike in the number of travellers.
Frankfurt Airport, Germany
Germany’s Frankfurt Airport ranks at number 2 in terms of percentages of flights delayed, a whopping 45.4%. A good number of flights have been cancelled here and it is expected that the situation will take months to improve as the airport here is also short staffed. The airport has also capped the number of daily flights to deal with the same. If you have landed here or have a flight to catch, brace for hours of wait.
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, France
Earlier this month, 50% of passenger’s baggage got stuck at the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport owing to technical issues. There were reports of protests by airport workers, demanding pay hikes as inflation increases across the world. It is expected that the coming months would be tough for passengers travelling via the airport here; take note.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the Netherlands
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is seeing tough days currently and ahead. There have been multiple reports of delayed baggage at the airport. So much so that KLM flyers were restricted to carrying only hand baggage as the airport system malfunctioned. Airport authorities have also stated that thousands of bags were left behind at the airport on July 20 due to technical problems. Airport authorities have also cut down flight numbers to tackle the problems of staff shortage. Currently, people are standing in long queues to check-in for as long as five hours!
London Gatwick Airport, United Kingdom
London Gatwick Airport (United Kingdom) is also expected to see flight delays and cancellations this summer and is best avoided if you are planning a trip. There have been recent reports of passengers passing out at the airport they waited for long hours without air-conditioning.
Heathrow Airport, United Kingdom
The frenzy at Heathrow is the same or probably worse that what is happening at European airports. Heathrow is also tackling strike threat by refuelling staff and it is advisable to avoid a trip to it in the near future. There are reports and first-person accounts coming in, telling stories of misplaced luggage from passengers who have flown back to their countries and might just have to come back to Heathrow to get their luggage!