Several airlines are going to court together because they believe that the government decision that Schiphol should downsize was taken without studying alternatives. According to the companies, there are enough alternatives to reduce nitrogen emissions and noise nuisance without affecting Schiphol’s position, but they have not been sufficiently investigated.
Schiphol must shrink to 460,000 flights this year, and have shrunk to a maximum of 440,000 flights per year by 2024, the cabinet decided last year. KLM tried to convince the minister to abandon his plan by emphasizing that the company is already investing billions in a clean, quieter fleet. The minister had nothing to do with that: KLM has to swallow the shrinkage of Schiphol.
Future perspective
However, the airline is not yet accepting the decision, as is also the case for other airlines and groups. KLM Group, Delta Airlines, Corendon, TUI and Easyjet are jointly filing summary proceedings against the government, hoping to reverse the ‘unilateral and sudden decision of the cabinet’.
According to the companies, the government is ‘pushing the brakes without proper substantiation’, while ‘aviation is achieving demonstrable results when it comes to lower CO2 emissions and noise’. The companies therefore see no other option than to go to court in order to create future prospects for the companies, writes KLM in a press release.
‘Big consequences’
Dutch and European aviation industry associations support the legal process, because the capacity reduction at Schiphol has major consequences for the EU’s internal aviation market.’ The Dutch trade association Barin left after the announcement by Minister Harbers know in June last year ‘to be very surprised and disappointed with the decision’.
The summary proceedings brought by the companies against the Dutch government are not the only case that the state lawyers have to deal with. The international aviation industry association IATA is also going to court.