Within the Schengen zone Barcelona, Malaga and Lisbon have been the most popular destinations
Amsterdam Schiphol airport says that over 1 million passengers have so far used its pre-booked security time slots, since its introduction about nine months ago.
The airport had launched the service, that is offered free of cost, in March for the Schengen routes only. In June, it was opened to all other routes.
Under this service, passengers can reserve slots up to three days before departure on the Schiphol website or app. They then receive a confirmation email containing a QR code, which can be scanned at the airport by a member of staff, who direct the customers to the correct security check entry point.
The airport authorities say that the time slots are open for 15 minutes, and Schiphol said that the service had been “extremely successful”, with the most popular slot being between 90 and 105 minutes before departure.
Within the Schengen zone Barcelona, Malaga and Lisbon have been the most popular destinations for the use of the slots, while Heathrow, Dubai and Curacao top the list of non-Schengen destinations.
The airport says that the 1 millionth customers were Willy and Leny Janssen-Jansen from Uden, who were treated to free access to the airport’s Privium Lounge.
In October Heathrow airport launched its own six-month trial of pre-booked security slots, involving passengers travelling with American Airlines, Delta, Emirates and Virgin Atlantic from Terminal 3. Schiphol said that it expects around three million passengers to pass through the airport between December 22 and January 7, 2024, a 30 pc increase on the same period last Christmas.
The busiest days will see around 60,000 travellers departing from the airport, with the most popular destinations being London, Istanbul, Barcelona, Dubai and Milan, it says.
