THE HAGUE: Amsterdam's Schiphol airport chief executive Dick Benschop announced Thursday he was stepping down following months of continual chaos at one of Europe's largest transport hubs, plagued by long queues and baggage handling issues. Benschop's announcement comes as the continent's second-largest airport again on Monday asked airlines to cancel flights and passengers had to stand in line for hours before catching flights. "There is a lot of attention, and also criticism, for the way in which Schiphol is tackling the problems and for my responsibility as CEO," Benschop said in a statement. "I am making room on my own initiative to give Schiphol the space to make a new start," he said.

Benschop, a former top manager at Shell and deputy minister announced his resignation at a meeting of the airport's supervisory board on Wednesday night. "He will remain in his function until a successor has been appointed," Schiphol added in the statement. Benschop last month blamed the long queues over the summer, which saw numerous passengers miss flights despite arriving hours ahead of departure -- on staff shortages as the airline industry struggles to recover in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic.

Baggage handlers earlier this year walked off the job in a wildcat strike and lost and unclaimed luggage remains a problem. The airport reduced passenger numbers since July in an effort to bring down waiting times. Schiphol also paid staff bonuses for the busy summer months, but those are set to finish at the end of September. "Improvements have been made over the summer, but these are not enough," said Jaap Winter, who chairs Schiphol's supervisory board.

He warned further limitations on capacity may be necessary. "As a national and international airport, Schiphol must return to the level of quality that passengers and airlines are accustomed to," Winter said. Passenger numbers at Schiphol plummeted from over 70 million in 2019 to 20.8 million in 2020, the first year of the pandemic and to 23 million last year. In August however 5.2 million passengers passed through Schiphol's gates, as opposed to 3.8 million last year and 1.8 million in 2020.