Family quit 'chaotic' snow-hit airport for ferry

2 days ago

Laura DevlinNorfolk

News image — The Moore family spent an unexpected couple of nights in Amsterdam

Moore family A selfie picture of a woman in a beige woolly hat and a red black and white patterned jacket. She is scrunching up her nose and mouth to the camera, as if in disgust. Crouched behind her is a man in glasses wearing a green jacket with the hood up, a smiling girl with glasses, long blonde hair and a blue jacket, and a shorter girl with a black hat and a light-coloured hood up. They are standing in a snowy street. — The Moore family spent an unexpected couple of nights in Amsterdam

A family whose 50-minute flight was repeatedly called off due to extreme weather in Amsterdam said they abandoned the "chaotic" airport and travelled home over several hours by ferry and train instead.

Teacher Richard Moore, his wife and their two daughters were due to leave Schiphol airport on Sunday when their scheduled KLM flight to Norwich, and replacement flights, were among hundreds cancelled in snow and strong winds.

"It was really, really manic," said Moore, who eventually took the ferry from Hook of Holland to Harwich, arriving in Norwich on Tuesday night.

KLM said it understood the impact of the weather was "stressful for everyone travelling", with disruption continuing on Thursday.

Moore told BBC Radio Norfolk's Chris Goreham the family was returning from an "amazing" holiday in France when they got caught up in the travel chaos.

EPA/Shutterstock A queue of people at an airport, most with their backs to the camera. A man with dark hair, holding a water bottle and wearing a blue uniform, appears to be talking to a man in a brown coat. An overhead illuminated yellow and black sign to left reads "Gates ABCD, first aid, toilets", while a similar sign to the right says "Departures 1-2 Check-in 1a 1-16". — Hundreds of passengers continued to queue for flights on Thursday

"There were just two KLM people shouting at hundreds of people 'Just book a hotel, sort it out on your phones'," said Moore.

"Calling KLM customer support was an impossibility. It was engaged all day.

"On Monday night, it was absolute carnage in the airport. There were hours of queues at baggage reclaim.

"The KLM desk was roped off and you couldn't ask questions. There were people just handing out cards telling you what to do.

"We still have no idea [about] our luggage, no idea about getting all our money back, and we've laid out the best part of £1,000."

KLM told the BBC air traffic at Schiphol had been disrupted since last Friday, with the poor conditions expected to continue over the coming days.

"Today the weather conditions are relatively good, allowing KLM to operate nearly all scheduled flights," a spokeswoman added.

"We advise our customers to stay at home or in their hotels until further notice from KLM about their rebooking."

Flights between Norwich and Amsterdam remained grounded on Wednesday.

An early flight from Norwich to Amsterdam was cancelled on Thursday, with two mid-morning outbound and inbound flights going ahead, albeit slightly behind schedule.

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