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Bomb hoaxers make for misery at Schiphol airport

Only someone with pea soup for a brain would try to make a joke about bombs in a British airport, yet Amsterdam's Schiphol airport appears to have more than its fair share of brain dead visitors.

Bomb hoaxes have soared at Schiphol airport in recent weeks with five people arrested for making jokes about carrying weapons and bombs. Unfortunately for both them and other passengers ths jokes have less than a funny side. Any hit of a weapon or a bomb and police are required to make an arrest and the airline to ban them from the flight. Oops. The jokers can also be fined up to 600 euros just for the trouble they cause.

If it is an outbound flight and suitcases are already been loaded onto the aircraft, the plane must be unloaded. It is also grounded, along with the passengers, while sniffer dog are brought in to check the whole planes.

If it is an inbound flight all passengers will be held while checks are carried out on both the aircraft and passengers belongings. Those arrested can expect several hours if not an overnight detention and they need not expect to get their luggage or contents back intact - they could be destroyed in a controlled explosion. And if that is not enough, airline companies have threatened to claim compensation for the delay caused by the jokers. Who will be laughing now?

This article was written for TravelSavvy Europe by Andy Matthews. If you know of an interesting European travel related news story, please get in contact.