The cabinet is investigating the possibility of abandoning the announced contraction at Schiphol. Last year, Minister Harbers of Infrastructure and Water Management decided that the maximum number of flights at the airport should be reduced from 500,000 to 440,000 a year because of the noise. Instead of shrinking, Harbers now proposes further reducing the number of night flights and reducing noise nuisance with quieter aircraft.
The proposal to abandon the contraction of Schiphol, in combination with a decrease in the number of night flights, is one of three options that Minister Harbers wants to present to local residents, interest groups, airlines and the airport itself. In this proposal, the number of night flights could be reduced from 32,000 to 25,000 per year.
In the two other proposals, Harbers maintains a reduction to 440,000 flights per year, a limited reduction of night flights and an extension of the period that is regarded as night. The Buitenveldertbaan should be closed more often and the use of the Aalsmeerbaan, Zwanenburgbaan and Schiphol-Oostbaan should be restricted.
This so-called consultation, in which the opinion of stakeholders is requested, is part of a European procedure that the cabinet must follow before there can be talk of contraction at Schiphol. The internet consultation started today and will run until June 15. Minister Harbers will then make a choice that he will submit to the European Commission.
To court
Airlines are not waiting for the European procedure and will go to court next week to challenge the announced shrinkage at Schiphol. KLM, Transavia, all American airlines, Air Canada, British Airways and the Spanish Vueling, among others, want the court to prohibit the shrinkage.
Experiment
The cabinet also wants to experiment with a different distribution of aircraft noise in the vicinity of Schiphol, to find out whether the reduction can be limited to 460,000 flights per year. Local residents called this experiment a ‘true nightmare‘.