This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-49104625
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Amsterdam's Schiphol suffers major disruption over fuel supply | Amsterdam's Schiphol suffers major disruption over fuel supply |
| (6 days 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. | 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. |