Flight disruptions continue at Amsterdam Schiphol, impacting KLM and other airlines’ flights

The weather has continued to disrupt flights at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS), with the airport’s latest update informing passengers that winter weather and de-icing operations could impact travelers’ plans on January 5.

In a short update on January 5, AMS informed passengers that due “to winter weather and aircraft de-icing, flights on Monday, 5 January may experience delays or cancellations.” According to the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorologisch Instituut, KNMI), snow has been “falling regularly almost everywhere in the country since Friday.”

The KNMI issued a “code orange” warning for almost all of the country, including North Holland, where AMS is located, “due to slippery conditions caused by snow.” The Institute added that, in addition to snow showers in the morning, there may be even more snow during the afternoon on January 5.

In an update on January 5, KLM said that around 300 of its flights from and to AMS have been canceled, warning passengers that the number may still increase. Transavia, the low-cost carrier subsidiary of KLM, also warned travelers that snow and strong winds at AMS might result in delays or cancellations, urging passengers to check the status of their flights on its website.

According to data that Flightradar24 provided to The Engine Cowl, between January 1 and January 4, 693 out of 2514 departures, or 27.57%, had been canceled at AMS. 637 of 2527 scheduled arrivals, or 25.21%, had been canceled as well.

Looking at the preliminary data for January 5, the flight tracking service indicated that at least another 246 arrivals were canceled, while another 201 departures were axed. 

At the time of publishing, Flightradar24 estimated that the average delay for arrivals is 85 minutes, while the average departure delay is 48 minutes.

Cirium’s Diio Mi data showed that on January 5, there were 1,143 flights scheduled from/to AMS, while on January 6, the number of scheduled arrivals and departures was 1,071.

Some of the busiest routes during those two days are from AMS to Barcelona El Prat Airport (BCN), Dublin Airport (DUB), London Heathrow Airport (LHR), Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG), and others.

The Netherlands’ other two commercial airports, Eindhoven Airport (EIN) and Rotterdam The Hague Airport (RTM), are seemingly faring much better than AMS. At EIN and RTM, no arrivals or departures have been canceled on January 5 at the time of publishing, yet the latter is experiencing some departure delays today, including several Transavia flights having departed several hours after their scheduled departure time.

In addition to the flight disruptions at AMS, KLM had to deal with the fallout of the United States’ decision to invade Venezuela and kidnap/capture its president, Nicolás Maduro. The operation to bring Maduro to the US, who had allegedly rigged Venezuela’s previous presidential election, resulted in the cancellation of five flights on January 3, impacting around 2,600 passengers, the Dutch carrier said.

On January 4, KLM stated that it has been “committed to rebooking passengers who were unable to travel to or from Curaçao due to the situation in Venezuela on the next available flight as quickly as possible,” adding an extra flight with an aircraft that can seat up to 380 passengers – a Boeing 777-300ER – that will depart AMS on January 5 as flight KLM 733.

The 777-300ER will return from Willemstad Curaçao Hato International Airport (CUR) on January 6 as flight KLM 734, KLM added, noting that it expected “to be able to bring all travelers to their destination within a few days.”

KLM resumed flights to and from CUR, Aruba, Bonaire, Sint Maarten, Port of Spain, Georgetown, and Bridgetown on January 4.