Last year, the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) issued 500 fines and warnings to airlines that landed at Schiphol at night against the rules. Only flights with so-called night slots or in case of force majeure are allowed to land between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., but that was not the case 500 times. The number of ‘legal’ night flights remained within limits in 2022. According to the rules, Schiphol is allowed to handle a maximum of 32,000 night flights per year. Last year there were almost 24,000.
According to the ILT, the number of night flight violations has increased considerably compared to the previous year. In 2021, 37 more warnings or fines were issued for violating the night rules.
The high number of 500 is due to stricter rules to prevent the abuse of take-off and landing rights. Those rights are scarce at Schiphol. The ILT wants to prevent airlines from flouting the rules.
Fine up to 75,000 euros
The increase can also be explained by the fact that there were even fewer flights in 2021 due to the corona crisis. Airlines can expect fines ranging from 25,000 to 75,000 euros on the mat for violating the night rules.
Within the noise and emission standards
In the operating year 2022, Schiphol complied with all legal standards for noise, the ILT reports in the annual report on the State of Schiphol that is being published today. The emission of harmful substances also remained within limits. The number of local residents experiencing serious noise nuisance has increased.
Shrink
The year of use started on November 1, 2021 and ran until October 31, 2022. In that period, there were 419,000 flights at Schiphol, 163,000 more than the year before. At Schiphol, a maximum number of flights of 500,000 per year still applies. That should eventually become 440,000 per year, but that shrinkage is still being challenged by several airlines at Schiphol who fear irreparable economic damage.