Amsterdam Court Gives Green Light To Plan To Reduce Flights At Busy Schiphol Airport

Schiphol Airport (AP) — Appeals court judges in Amsterdam ruled Friday that the Dutch government can order Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s busiest aviation hubs, to reduce the number of flights from 500,000 per year to 460,000.

The Amsterdam Court of Appeal overturned a lower court that concluded in April the government of the Netherlands did not follow the correct procedure when it told Schiphol last year to cut flights.

The airport, civil aviation organizations and airlines that included Dutch flag carrier KLM challenged the government’s order. Friday’s decision can be appealed to the Dutch Supreme Court.

The Amsterdam appeals court said in a statement Friday that it “attaches considerable weight to the interests of local residents” in the densely populated region where people have complained for years about noise pollution from the airport.

In a written response, Schiphol said it accepted the ruling and hopes for a new aviation traffic order from Dutch authorities “as soon as possible with clear and enforceable environmental limits that provide clarity and perspective for all parties involved.”

The airport said that “the most important thing for us is that Schiphol becomes quieter, cleaner and better.”

KLM said it was “disappointed about the ruling” and studying it.

The carrier said it would “continue to engage with other stakeholders in seeking the best way to reduce the number of people affected by aircraft noise.”

Schiphol already is attempting to address the issue. Earlier this year, the airport announced plans to phase out all flights between midnight and 5 a.m., to ban private jets and the noisiest planes, and to abandon a project for an additional runway.

Dutch Government To Rein In Flights At Schiphol Airport

BRUSSELS (AP) — The Dutch government said Friday it will cut the maximum number of flights allowed each year at the country’s busiest aviation hub, Schiphol Airport, in an attempt to reduce noise and air pollution.

The decision — expected to take effect late next year — to cut the number of flights allowed from around 500,000 to 440,000 is a further blow to the airport. Schiphol has seen chaos in recent weeks amid security staff shortages, with hours-long lines of passengers waiting to board flights.

The airport last week announced it will have to reduce the number of passengers it can handle each day by around 13,500 over the busy summer period because of the staff shortages.

Schiphol, on the outskirts of Amsterdam, has been growing for years and has become a busy European hub and a significant driver of economic growth in the Netherlands, although it has seen business hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the government, which also is looking for ways to cut emissions of carbon and other pollutants such as nitrogen oxide, said that the growth must now be reined in.

“I want to offer certainty and perspective to both the aviation sector and local residents,” Infrastructure and Water Management Minister Mark Harbers said. “This decision forms the basis for a new equilibrium. Unfortunately, it contains a difficult message for the aviation sector, which is still fully recovering from the drastic consequences of the corona pandemic.”

Schiphol said in a written reaction that it supports a “well-thought-out approach” that leads to the airport’s stated goal of “connecting the Netherlands with the world as an increasingly quieter and cleaner Schiphol.”

But it said the plans announced Friday “lead to great uncertainty and much remains unclear. We see that major risks are being taken with regard to the quality of the network.”

Reacting Thursday to leaked news of the planned cuts, environmental group Greenpeace hailed the decision as a historic turning point.

“It is good that the Cabinet realizes that Schiphol has, for years, been flying beyond all boundaries when it comes to noise, nitrogen, ultrafine particles and the climate,” Greenpeace aviation expert Dewi Zloch said in a statement.

“This is an impetus for Schiphol to finally come up with a plan that takes into account the Paris Climate Agreement,” Zloch added.