Plans by KLM ground crew to strike at Schiphol on Wednesday evening were halted by court order late in the afternoon.

KLM had gone to court to have the strike ruled illegal. The judge said he wanted more time to make a considered opinion and ordered the strike plans to be put on ice until August 11.

The FNV trade union, which had called the strike over pay and contracts for temporary staff said in a reaction it was ‘astonished’.

‘Our legal advisors are astonished that the judge has limited our constitutional right to strike for eight days,’ a spokesman told news agency ANP.

Negotiations between KLM and FNV ground to a halt last week on with KLM’s refusal to undo measures to cut back on ground personnel costs.

Passengers are already experiencing some problems at Schiphol. Extra controls in reaction to an unspecified terrorist threat are causing long tailbacks on the roads surrounding the airport and train services are limited because of a nine-day maintenance programme.

July and August are Schiphol’s busiest times. Some 137,000 travellers a day will use the airport during these two months.