Amsterdam cuts jobs

The major British airports are not the only European gateways to suffer job cuts due to the pandemic.

Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport announced Friday that it will cut hundreds of jobs as it warned that air traffic will likely not return to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels until 2023-2025.

It also issued a statement echoing very much the message being put out by its UK colleagues.

“The international response (to Covid-19) is currently insufficiently aligned and coordinated. This impacts air travel, and therefore economic recovery,” the airport said.

“Schiphol is in favour of a system of testing for travel to and from countries with an orange or red risk profile. "This can reduce the need for travel bans and quarantine measures."

Europe’s number three airport slumped to a net loss of €246m in the first half of the year, compared to a profit of €133m in the same period last year, before sweeping travel restrictions and other measures to contain the spread of the virus hammered the global travel industry.

Passenger numbers at Schiphol fell 62.1%, to 13.1m, while cargo volumes were down 14.5% compared to the first half of 2019.

The airport said in the statement it will cut “several hundred” jobs from its total workforce of around 3,000 to reduce costs.

Also see ON THE SOAPBOX.

www.schiphol.nl

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