Wednesday saw a malfunction in the baggage systems at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Consequently, KLM was unable to process baggage for most of the day on Wednesday, which meant thousands of suitcases belonging to passengers were again left behind in Amsterdam. The latest updates indicate that the baggage systems are up and running once more.
In response to these circumstances, KLM took the following preventative measure to minimise further inconvenience for passengers: transfer passengers travelling from one European destination to another via Amsterdam will only be allowed to travel with carry-on baggage on Thursday or will have the option of rebooking their flight.
KLM stresses that this measure will apply on Thursday, 21 July, for transfer passengers travelling within Europe – i.e. passengers travelling via Amsterdam from one European destination to another. The measure does not apply to passengers departing from the Netherlands or with intercontinental connections.
The aim of this decision was to achieve the greatest possible effect, with the least possible impact on passengers. The measure will ensure that the volume of baggage that requires processing will remain manageable and that KLM can run schedules as normal for its customers on Thursday. The fact that transfer passengers within Europe will travel with carry-on baggage only on Thursday, will free up as much space as possible on Thursday’s flights to transport baggage that was left behind on Wednesday.
KLM is deeply troubled by the fact that passengers have had to wait for their baggage longer and that certain passengers have been inconvenienced by this problem. Passengers who have further questions will find more information on the KLM website.
A report from Berlin — where hundreds of KLM passengers who passed through Amsterdam’s Shiphol airport were left without baggage on Wednesday, July 20th (including me, and my dear wife). And the jobber company handling lost baggage in Germany – WISAG – compounded the catastrophe by a phone number not answering (or not working) and a website that’s less than helpful. The only way to get updates on missing bags is to travel back to Berlin Brandenburg airport, beg to get into baggage claim, then visually search the hundred of piled up bags. The KLM situation is a real mess. You state that KLM takes the situation “seriously” but it doesn’t appear to do so in Berlin, where not one single KLM agent is present or even available to give any information or explanation. In these situations, a little TLC goes a long way, but KLM has shown nothing at all, a singular lack of presence that has hurt its passengers all over Europe. My advice is not to fly KLM until they get their mess sorted out, or perhaps, for some, never, ever fly KLM again.
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