At a meeting about the imminent shrinkage of Schiphol, emotions ran high among some visitors. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management had organized the information morning at Schiphol-East to explain the decision to limit the maximum number of flights. Four visitors were expelled from the room for disrupting the meeting.
The removed foursome is a member of Extinction Rebellion and Schipholwatch. One of them was Yolande Schuur from Vinkeveen, who wanted to make her concerns about aircraft noise, pollution and health problems clear to Schiphol and the ministry. Her protest speech was not appreciated and therefore cut short by the organization, which had her and her supporters removed from the hall and the hotel.
“The residents get the short end of the stick every time,” Schuur said to NH Nieuws outside the Steigenberger Hotel at Schiphol-East. “There are all nice talks, but nothing is being done.” According to Schuur, Schiphol ignores agreements and regulations and the ministry allows it.
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Director-General of Aviation and Maritime Affairs, Ruth Clabbers, who was one of the speakers, said that she understands the activists. “It mainly shows the emotion,” Clabbers told NH News. “I think it’s good to see if we can consult with those involved at a later time.”
“Listen carefully, what exactly is underneath this? Can we remove concerns? That will not be possible on all points, of course. Also try to explain how we try to weigh up the interests and as carefully as possible,” said Clabbers.
division
The shrinkage of Schiphol creates more divisions between proponents and opponents in the already polarized discussion about aviation. Both local residents and employees from the aviation sector attended the meeting. KLM is strongly opposed against shrinkage. Society is afraid that the contraction will cause major job losses and will be bad for the economy.
Local resident Michel Willemse from Amstelveen has confidence in the shrinking decision. He thinks that the combination of shrinkage and modern, quieter aircraft can reduce nuisance. Wil Spaanderman, member of the Schiphol Environment Council (ORS), lives below the approach route of the Polderbaan. He calls the decision brave, but argues for more shrinkage: not from 500,000 to 440,000 flights per year, but to 350,000 flight movements from November next year.
‘Lack of concrete plans’
Mirella Visser, of residents’ organization PUSH Uithoorn, also wants to flee less, but is particularly annoyed by the lack of concrete plans to implement the decision. “In what way is this shrinkage spread across the region?” she wonders. Visser fears that not all local residents will benefit from fewer flights if some runways – such as the Aalsmeerbaan – will be used more than others.
Private jet flights
One of the visitors wants to know from the ministry whether private jet flights will be included in the maximum number of flights per year from now on. That is not yet the case. Business jets, police helicopters, trauma helicopters and the Coast Guard together account for tens of thousands of additional flights. The ministry indicates that the decision has not yet been elaborated and that a flight tax for private jet flights is also being considered, for example.
Sijas Akkerman, director of the Noord-Holland Nature and Environmental Federation, wants business jet flights to be no exception from now on. He emphasizes that this should not be at the expense of necessary flights, such as from the police and trauma helicopters. “That may mean that fun flights cannot take off. That should be less anyway, due to climate, noise and ultrafine particles.”