The number of flight movements at Schiphol needs to be reduced less drastically than previously intended. The outgoing cabinet has decided that, De Volkskrant reports today. Not 440,000 flights per year, but 452,000 should become the limit from November next year.
Last July, the Court of Appeal in Amsterdam ruled in an appeal lodged by (now outgoing) Minister Harbers that Schiphol will be closed in the short term. may shrink to 460,000 flights per year.
To accommodate residents living near Schiphol, Harbers actually wanted to limit the current number of flights from 500,000 to a maximum of 440,000 from the end of this year. However, it soon became clear that Harbers should not take that decision on its own: it must first be investigated whether there are no alternatives to limit the nuisance, such as the use of cleaner and quieter aircraft.
Moreover, Brussels (the European Commission) must also consider the shrinkage plans. After all, Schiphol has an important function not only for the Netherlands, but also internationally. The consequences of Harber’s plans could be far-reaching for the more than one hundred airlines that fly to Schiphol on a daily or weekly basis.
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With the approval of Schiphol, Harbers devised a ruse: a rapid and less drastic reduction – to 460,000 a year – did not have to be approved by Brussels first. Airlines decided this one so-called experimental scheme challenge, and successfully. The judge ruled that Schiphol provisionally didn’t have to shrink to 460,000 flights per year.
Harbers did not stop there and appealed. The Court of Appeal agreed with him and ruled that Schiphol may still shrink to 460,000 euros in the short term. In the meantime, it can be investigated in Brussels whether the larger reduction – to a maximum of 440,000 flights per year – is also feasible.
So now that seems unnecessary, because – as the Volkskrant reports today – the cabinet wants to apply a maximum of 452,000 flights per year from November next year. Harbers is sending the plan to Brussels today so that the European Commission can consider the proposal. No permission is required, but the European Commission will check whether the outgoing cabinet has made any mistakes in the procedure.
Controversial or not?
During the presentation of the half-year figureslast Friday, Schiphol director Ruud Sondag called on the House of Representatives not to declare the reduction plans of Schiphol controversial, despite the outgoing status of the cabinet.
The aviation industry hopes that parliament will declare the reduction plans controversial and that the final decision will be passed on to the next cabinet, which is not expected to be installed until mid-next year. That will take too long on Sunday. “We have to press ahead now, people living near the airport have a right to that.”
Night flights and private jets
Earlier this year, Sondag presented a plan with which Schiphol wants to reduce nuisance for local residents even further and faster. With this plan, Schiphol is tackling night flights and private jets, which also evoke a great deal of social resistance. According to de Volkskrant, the cabinet is not prepared to ban night flights and private jets.
A spokesperson for Schiphol said in response to reports in de Volkskrant that the airport will not respond until the outgoing cabinet has officially announced the plans.