Airports Are Taking Steps to Avoid Summer 2023 Travel Woes

If you experienced canceled flights, hours-long check-in lines and lost baggage at the airport last year, you’re in good company. As travel rebounded from the pandemic, the summer travel season was busier than ever. In an effort to avoid the shitshow that was 2022 travel, airports and airlines are already taking steps to prevent major headaches for both themselves and their customers.

Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport made the news last year for lines that snaked outside the terminal and advice to arrive at least four hours before a flight. To avoid the same madness that was 2022, they announced this week that they’ll limit the number of passengers to 66,000 per day during May vacation season. And because of staff shortages, the airport has asked airlines to cut ticket sales by 5% on peak spring break mornings. In Britain, Heathrow stated that they’ll do away with adding impromptu flights during the busiest hours of the summer season.

Europe Will Be More Crowded Than Ever This Summer

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Over on our side of the pond, Toronto Pearson International Airport — Canada’s largest airport — has also set limits on the number of commercial flight traffic during peak spring and summer hours. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) also told Reuters that they’ll limit the number of international arrivals and departures to the United States. Air Canada said that the GTAA cutbacks were factored into their plans, while competitor WestJet Airlines said they “have created hurdles and required adjustments when planning our transborder and international flying.”

Staffing shortages, both for airlines and border agents, continue to be an issue. Lufthansa also said they’ve cut summer flights to avoid cancellations because of staffing issues at German airports like Munich and Frankfurt.

Time will tell if 2023 travel is less of a headache than last year, but it seems like some airports and airlines are at least making moves in the right direction.