The end of the summer tourist season, with a corresponding drop in passenger traffic, has not helped Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, with staffing problems worsening to the point that the airport has called in the army for help to fill the shortfall. However, it is not a fact that such support will be provided by the military.
Moreover, this is not the first request – as noted by the local media, the airport first asked for help back in May. The Dutch airport, which in former times occupied the first place in Europe in terms of “circulation” of aircraft and the third – in terms of the number of passengers, turned out to be a “hostage” of its scale after the Covid-19 pandemic due to a severe shortage of personnel. The shortage of security personnel – the most difficult to restore because additional checks and clearances are required – led to traffic jams and huge queues, with passengers complaining en masse that they were late for their flights due to huge queues at the gate. Probably, this is where the leadership of Shchypol is expected to involve the military. The second problem area is the loading and unloading of luggage.
However, most likely, this request will remain unsatisfactory. According to press reports, the Dutch government reacted negatively to the request of the airport management in May, saying: “This is not a soldier’s job.” This time, at least, the National Security and Counter-Terrorism Coordinator of the Netherlands (NCTV) also stated that the airport does not have the authority to request such assistance from the military. “If the deployment of military personnel serves Schiphol’s business interests, there is a risk of setting a precedent for other business parties to seek similar assistance,” the government said.
