Last year, 85 people jointly complained more than 167,000 times about aircraft nuisance at Schiphol, almost half of the total number of complaints. The biggest troublemakers were again Boeing 747-400 cargo planes. This is reported by the Residents Contact Point Schiphol (BAS). The Boeing 747-400 is an outdated, four-engine aircraft and makes a lot of noise when it takes off from Schiphol fully loaded with cargo and kerosene.
The Boeing 747-400 appears fourteen times in the top 20 most complained flights. Top of the list was a flight operated by KLM’s cargo company Martinair. A Boeing 747-400, loaded with cargo, took off from the Buitenveldertbaan Schiphol at around 10:15 p.m. on 15 November 2021 and roared over Amstelveen at a low altitude. 55 local residents then submitted a complaint to BAS.
Because air traffic had increased considerably last year compared to the previous year, the number of reports about aircraft nuisance also increased. 10,520 reporters submitted a complaint in the so-called usage year 2022. A year earlier that was still 7,645 people reporting. The year of use started on November 1, 2021 and ran through October 31, 2022.
85 people complained more than 167,000 times
85 people jointly submitted more than 167,000 complaints to BAS and were therefore responsible for almost half of all complaints. The other half came from the remaining 10,435 people who complained about aircraft noise.
More complaints after 10 p.m
The major maintenance on the Aalsmeerbaan between April and July resulted in additional complaints from Amsterdammers and Amstelveners, due to the extra use of the Buitenveldertbaan. There were also more complaints after 10 p.m. Due to the shortage of security personnel, flights departed more often with delays. Residents of Uithoorn and Aalsmeer complained more then, because the Aalsmeerbaan runway regularly stayed open longer in the evenings.