The Zwanenburgbaan at Schiphol is expected to reopen to air traffic on May 4. This is reported by Air Traffic Control the Netherlands (LVNL). The runway was then closed for four months for major maintenance. Originally, the Zwanenburgbaan was to be put into use again in mid-April, but the work was not completed in time due to the bad weather. If 4 May is achieved, the runway will not immediately be able to be used fully, resulting in more noise nuisance.
After months of maintenance on the Zwanenburg runway, work still needs to be done on the landing system of the runway. To ensure that the guidance system for landing aircraft works properly, measurement flights must be carried out. They are on May 13, 15 and 20. Only one month after the last measurement flight, the runway may be fully used again according to international safety rules.
This means that the Zwanenburgbaan Runway can be used again without restrictions by air traffic until the end of June at the earliest. In good visibility, the runway may be used from next Thursday, but in case of deviating wind and visibility conditions, the Buitenveldertbaan will be used, just like in the past four months.
Resists
There was a lot of opposition to the maintenance from residents’ groups and the environmental movement MOB. Residents of Uithoorn feared extra disruption to their night’s sleep, because of the exemption that Schiphol received to use the Aalsmeerbaan at night. Johan Vollenbroek’s environmental organization MOB unsuccessfully contested maintenance. According to Vollenbroek, a nitrogen permit for the work was missing.