The shrinkage of Schiphol will most likely be postponed again. The European Commission needs more time to assess the Dutch government’s plans to limit noise pollution from the airport.
This is what outgoing Minister Mark Harbers (Infrastructure and Water Management, VVD) wrote to the House of Representatives. He answers questions posed by the House when discussing his ministry’s budget. For example, the policy that the current outgoing cabinet has pursued in recent years to limit the nuisance caused by Schiphol appears to have largely failed.
Harbers reports new delays in the European procedure he must follow to reduce the number of flights at Schiphol due to noise pollution. Such a procedure – a ‘balanced approach’ – prescribes that all kinds of other measures to reduce aircraft noise must first be investigated (home insulation, alternative flight routes) before the capacity of an airport can be reduced.
The minister writes in his letter dated Tuesday that it is “unlikely” that the European procedure will be completed in time to reduce the number of flights from November 1, 2024. The European Commission has so many questions about the plans that the Netherlands had to submit to Brussels that the procedure is taking longer than expected. It is not yet known when the Commission will complete the examination. On November 1, Harbers wanted to reduce the maximum number of flights per year to 452,500. Schiphol now applies a maximum of 483,000 per year.
Harbers’ announcement is a new setback for residents of the airport. Residents of Aalsmeer and Uithoorn, among others, hoped that the current, now outgoing cabinet would limit the nuisance caused by aircraft flying over. They have been complaining for years about noise pollution and the fact that noise is tolerated.
Three-stage rocket
In June 2022, Minister Harbers announced an ambitious plan to limit disruption at Schiphol. That plan was a three-stage rocket. Firstly, tightening the current noise rules, which were not enforced. Secondly, a hard limit on the number of flights – including at night. And thirdly, in a few years, the introduction of a new system that makes the number of flights dependent on noise and emissions.
KLM and other Dutch and foreign airlines and trade associations went to court last year to have the shrinkage of Schiphol off the table. The legal procedure has now reached the Supreme Court. They must pronounce on it this spring.
In November, Harbers already reported that he was suspending the first phase of the downsizing plans. Stricter enforcement would have led to up to 460,000 flights. Harbers abandoned the plan under pressure from the United States and the European Commission. The US believes that the Netherlands is violating international aviation treaties by banning (American) airlines from Schiphol to limit noise pollution. KLM feared that it would in turn be (partially) banned from American airports. The European Commission expressed doubts as to whether step one of the government’s policy also required a ‘balanced approach’ procedure.
The question now is what remains of the cabinet’s desire to curb the nuisance caused by Schiphol. The first phase has been suspended, the second phase has now been delayed. And the ministry has barely started on phase three, a completely new system that links the number of flights to noise standards and emission agreements. What a new cabinet wants with aviation is still unknown, but the parties that are now talking about forming a government seem to be friendlier to aviation than the current coalition.
Moreover, the plan of Schiphol management, with eight points to limit the impact on the airport’s surroundings, also seems less concrete than interim CEO Ruud Sondag proposed in April 2023. For example, Schiphol cannot single-handedly limit the number of night flights, Minister Harbers also wrote to the House of Representatives.