Plan B: Royal Air Maroc (RAM) transfers all its flights from Amsterdam to Maastricht
For this summer, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol has decided to limit the number of passengers and cancel flights to avoid congestion at the hub, which is facing a major staff shortage. Informed, airlines, like Royal Air Maroc (RAM), are working on alternative plans.
Royal Air Maroc (RAM) is reorganising its flights between Morocco and the Netherlands. In a press release published on 14 July, the company informs that its 'AT850 and AT851 flights initially planned to/from Amsterdam will be transferred to Maastricht airport between 16 July and 10 August 2022'.
It specifies that "beyond this date and if this situation persists, a new arrangement will be put in place to facilitate our customers' travel as much as possible during this particular period".
According to RAM, this decision was taken "due to additional airport restrictions imposed by the authorities of Amsterdam Schiphol airport, as well as those of neighbouring airports". It had initially transferred its flights to Rotterdam Airport. "Our customers affected by this change will receive an SMS or email if contact details are provided at the time of booking. To check the status of the flights, go to 'manage booking'," says One World.
According to the new schedule, flight AT850 will now depart Casablanca at 7.30am (10.30am on Fridays) and arrive at Maastricht Aachen International Airport at 12pm local time (3pm on Fridays). In the opposite direction, the ATR851 flight leaves the Netherlands at 13:00 (16:00 on Fridays) and arrives in Casablanca at 15:25 (18:25 on Fridays). RAM has no competition on this route, which it will operate with Boeing 737-800s.
Amsterdam-Schiphol expects 60 million passengers this year and 25.5 million passengers in 2021. However, the expected demand for this summer exceeds this high scenario. In combination with the lack of security staff, Schiphol cannot allow all passengers to travel safely and reliably. Under current conditions, the hub says the maximum number of passengers it can handle will vary from day to day, ranging from up to 67,500 on the busiest days in July to 72,500 in August
