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Amsterdam's Schiphol suffers major disruption over fuel supply | Amsterdam's Schiphol suffers major disruption over fuel supply |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Amsterdam's Schiphol airport says its fuel supply system has now restarted, hours after a fault led to major disruption. | Amsterdam's Schiphol airport says its fuel supply system has now restarted, hours after a fault led to major disruption. |
At least 70 planes were grounded, and others diverted, when the airport's refuelling facility stopped working at around 13:00 (11:00 GMT) on Wednesday. | At least 70 planes were grounded, and others diverted, when the airport's refuelling facility stopped working at around 13:00 (11:00 GMT) on Wednesday. |
Thousands of passengers were stranded, and many spoke of chaos and a lack of information in the airport. | |
It is not clear when the disruption will be fully over. | It is not clear when the disruption will be fully over. |
Schiphol airport had earlier warned it could be "long into the evening" before things returned to normal. | Schiphol airport had earlier warned it could be "long into the evening" before things returned to normal. |
It later said that flights had restarted: | It later said that flights had restarted: |
But it also urged travellers to contact their airlines. | But it also urged travellers to contact their airlines. |
The company supplying the fuel system, Aircraft Fuel Supply, said the failure of the system was not due to the current heatwave, the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant reports. | The company supplying the fuel system, Aircraft Fuel Supply, said the failure of the system was not due to the current heatwave, the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant reports. |
The fault meant that only planes that had enough fuel on board were able to take off from the airport. | The fault meant that only planes that had enough fuel on board were able to take off from the airport. |
As well as the 70 grounded planes, passengers on a further 11 recently landed planes were unable to immediately disembark because there was no gate available, De Volkskrant reports. | As well as the 70 grounded planes, passengers on a further 11 recently landed planes were unable to immediately disembark because there was no gate available, De Volkskrant reports. |
Almost 180 flights had been cancelled by airlines, Schiphol said. | Almost 180 flights had been cancelled by airlines, Schiphol said. |
One British passenger, Michael Lowery, was at Schiphol waiting to catch his flight back to Norwich when the outage occurred. He told the BBC there was a four-hour queue for the airline KLM's information desk. | One British passenger, Michael Lowery, was at Schiphol waiting to catch his flight back to Norwich when the outage occurred. He told the BBC there was a four-hour queue for the airline KLM's information desk. |
"It's been really awful service at the airport," he said. "They can't control the situation at all. | "It's been really awful service at the airport," he said. "They can't control the situation at all. |
"The queue's stretching across the terminal and that's just for information. They won't book me a hotel unless I wait in the queue. So I either have to book one myself or wait four hours in a queue to maybe get one." | "The queue's stretching across the terminal and that's just for information. They won't book me a hotel unless I wait in the queue. So I either have to book one myself or wait four hours in a queue to maybe get one." |
Others said they had problems finding a place to stay for the night. | |
Paul Hewitson, who had flown in from Inverness in Scotland for a connecting flight to the Norwegian city of Stavanger, said he was told by KLM they could not find a hotel room for him because everywhere was booked up. | |
He tried three hotels before he found a room. "I've got no bag, a £100 ($125) taxi bill and £180 hotel bill," he told the BBC. | |
July is one of the busiest periods for the airport as people fly off for their summer holidays. | July is one of the busiest periods for the airport as people fly off for their summer holidays. |
Have you been affected by the disruption at Schiphol airport? Get in touch by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. | Have you been affected by the disruption at Schiphol airport? Get in touch by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. |
You can also contact us in the following ways: | You can also contact us in the following ways: |
Or use the form below | Or use the form below |