Amsterdam isn't a great advertisement for the passport gates. As a regular traveller through Amsterdam for 17 years (including right now, my flight leaves in 40 minutes...), I have never seen worse queues or longer delays for incoming passengers.
The last time I arrived at Schiphol, I had plenty of time to compare the relative throughput of the gates and manual checks. At best two automated gates have around half the throughput of one equally wide manual desk for EU travellers.
Schiphol's big problem, however, seems to have been using the gates as an excuse to cut back staff too far.
The result, at least, on the D pier, is regular queues of passengers through the passport hall and back up to the main concourse.
> Schiphol's big problem, however, seems to have been using the gates as an excuse to cut back staff too far.
From what I read it's the combination of cutting back immigration staff together with airlines (KLM) not sharing their expected passenger numbers anymore plus a significant increase in passengers. See e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_busiest_airports_by_pa..., Schiphol grew by 9%, year before by 6%
I quite like the automated gates. Per line is more inefficient but total throughput seems higher. Plus, seems quicker to go through.
The last time I arrived at Schiphol, I had plenty of time to compare the relative throughput of the gates and manual checks. At best two automated gates have around half the throughput of one equally wide manual desk for EU travellers.
Schiphol's big problem, however, seems to have been using the gates as an excuse to cut back staff too far.
The result, at least, on the D pier, is regular queues of passengers through the passport hall and back up to the main concourse.