Long queues at Kloten again: Is there a risk of major chaos at the airport on the weekend?

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Since the end of the summer holidays, Blick has received only occasional reports from reader reporters about excessively long waiting times at Zurich Airport. But as the autumn holidays began in many cantons at the beginning of October, images of endless queues of people in front of security or passport control returned.

A reader reported an hour-long wait at passport control last Monday. Another reader sent in a picture of a queue outside security control on Tuesday, which stretched past passport control and into the Läderach chocolate shop. There are other examples. Additionally, autumn holidays are about to start this weekend in the cantons of Zurich, Bern (partially) and Thurgau. Everyone who wants to go on vacation in the coming days asks themselves this question: Will there be chaos?

Swissport and airport are getting ready

Airport spokeswoman Jasmin Bodmer-Breu explained to Blick that the airport, together with the Zurich cantonal police in charge of security and passport controls, has taken various measures to minimize waiting times. “According to our reports, the measures implemented are having an impact,” she reassures. No further details from the airport or the cantonal police.

Bodmer-Breu admits that occasional bottlenecks can occur due to the very high number of passengers. The airport is expecting up to 110,000 passengers on busy days during the fall holiday season, which is approaching its record year in 2019.

Swissport spokesperson Nathalie Berchtold specifically says: “Experience shows that in the economy sector there is a slightly longer waiting time of around 30 minutes before the noon peak, i.e. around 11am.” Despite the high passenger volume (passenger numbers last weekend were already comparable to peak summer weekends in July), wait times at check-in last weekend were “within the normal range.”

The duration of baggage claim was “slightly above the defined quality standard”. Wait times at baggage claim occur primarily because many departures and arrivals are condensed into several hours per day, creating temporary infrastructure and staffing bottlenecks, “especially when there are more flight delays.” “But there was no longer than average wait time,” Berchtold said. But one Blick reader reported waiting up to 45 minutes for a suitcase.

Friday is the litmus test

But not all the mountains of luggage that can sometimes be seen at the airport are “Swiss suitcases”. The portal “Aerotelegraph” notes that piles of suitcases consist of pieces of luggage that were not loaded onto the plane on time at foreign airports. This is usually due to short transfer times and delays. The problem lies in the “aviation system”.

Still: Berchtold assures that Swissport is ready for the start of the autumn holidays. The ground handling provider is trying to prepare for “expected irregularities” through daily staff inventory, strengthening staff planning and support from other Swissport locations. These include delays, last-minute cancellations, aircraft type changes or bottlenecks in European air safety.

Berchtold expects flight and passenger volumes to be slightly higher than last weekend due to the approach of holidays in many major cantons such as Bern and Zurich. Flights are still well booked, with an average occupancy rate of 91 percent. “We expect another busy day in terms of passenger volume, especially on Friday, October 6,” Berchtold said.

Source :Blick