Kizito said she was let through border controls with health officials accepting her South African test results.Īnd, a plane that's not full had added benefits. "We were all tense and little bit worried," said Rita Kizito, a professor teaching in the Netherlands, but things went "surprisingly very smoothly." While passengers who missed connecting flights because of Friday evening's hold-up were fuming, those arriving on Saturday had a much smoother transit - and those whose destination was the Netherlands were hugely relieved. "Coronavirus is something unexpected and it proves to be always more unexpected," he told AFP. "This was an extraordinary situation, unique, because the measures changed while people were on the plane," said Stefan Donker, spokesman for Schiphol. Lessons to be learned for future."ĭutch health authorities said on Saturday that some of the 61 who tested Covid positive and are now in hotel quarantine "probably" had the new variant. Passenger Paula Zimmerman who documented her night via videos posted on Twitter and finally tested negative, said the "organisation was terrible unfortunately. On Friday, passengers arriving at Schiphol had to endure hours of waiting - first on the plane and then in a cramped arrival hall "were people were breathing on each other" and many people failed to wear face masks, Nolen tweeted.
Since the emergence of the new strain, one country after another has banned flights from southern Africa in what New York Times global health reporter Stephanie Nolen - who was on one of the flights to Schiphol - termed "variant panic." We cannot say when these people will be able to return," KLM spokesman Remco Rous told AFP. "Each person is dealing with an individual situation. These bar entry to all passengers from southern African countries except for Dutch and EU residents who can show a negative Covid test taken within 24 hours of boarding the plane. In all, 161 people made it back Saturday aboard the sole KLM flight from Johannesburg, blending seamlessly with other arrivals from Istanbul and Atlanta as they plucked luggage from the conveyor belts.Īt least 107 other passengers were stopped from boarding as they did not comply with new Dutch government rules hastily announced on Friday.
So we decided not to wait (in South Africa) under these circumstances and booked a flight home." Her husband added: "We heard there was a new variant and maybe it would be impossible to go back after the weekend. nobody said anything to us," a visibly relieved Van der Veen, 58, told news agency AFP. "We were scared of having to go back into quarantine," said Mariam van der Veen, an air hostess who was on holiday in South Africa with her husband Alexander. The mood was very different the previous day, when passengers aboard two flights spent hours mired at Schiphol while tests revealed that 61 out of the 600 passengers had coronavirus, with some possibly having the new 'Omicron' strain which has governments worldwide worried. Smiling relatives waiting with balloons and flowers greeted travellers from KLM's only flight from Johannesburg, who reached the Netherlands despite a growing international shutdown to curb the new 'Omicron' strain. Edith Frank ,mother of Anne and Margot.Relieved passengers on a flight from South Africa streamed into Amsterdam's Schiphol airport Saturday, in stark contrast to the previous day when fears about a new Covid-19 variant sparked chaos.Where some see a ring, I see a tragedy.I don’t know which airliners offered these services, the last picture is from a Swissair flight, however I do know this was quite standard with a number of airliners and especially for long haul flights. Plenty of opportunities for kids to be entertained.Īnd no disposable cutlery or plates, and a good choice of menus. The passengers were offered unlimited alcohol and smoking was no issue. Here are just some reminders of flying first class 1960’s style. And because the stewardess-to-passenger ratio was so much higher back then than it is today, you could expect one to nearly instantly cater your every (non-salacious) need. Once aboard, all service was complimentary. In fact, business class today is spatially very similar to what economy used to be like. However flying wasn’t always this stressful and especially when you were flying first class, the sky was literally the limit.Once on board, the average passenger, even in economy, had plenty of legroom. Nowadays flying can be quite stressful, there are just so many safety regulations one had to adhere to it really takes the fun out of air travel.Įven before you get on board you are interrogated, nearly stripped naked, forced to drink your bottle of liquid asap or dispose of it, and that is only the checking in part.
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