The Schiphol airport authority says that staffing levels in security will improve in the first week in August, allowing an additional 6,000 passengers to use the airport.

The airport has currently restricted the daily number of passengers to 67,500 but will expand that to a maximum of 73,000 next week.

Schiphol has been beset by staffing problems since the start of the holiday season, leading to hundreds of flight cancellations and waits of at least four hours at times to reach an aircraft. Yet despite the improved staffing levels, long waits cannot be ruled out at peak periods, the airport said.

Dutch flag carrier KLM told the Telegraaf that it would not increase ticket sales, despite the airport’s decision, in order to keep some seats in reserve for passengers who miss their flights.

Schiphol agreed to pay security staff and ground crew higher wages from August, and this has led to the improved staffing levels, the paper said.