Dutch airport Schiphol capped at 478,000 flights per 12 months to cut back noise

The primary of three KLM passenger planes heading to New York takes off from Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Monday April 19, 2010.
| Picture Credit score: AP

Amsterdam Schiphol airport’s whole flight capability shall be lowered by 4% subsequent 12 months in an effort to chop noise air pollution, the Dutch authorities mentioned on Friday (December 6, 2024).

Visitors at Schiphol, one in all Europe’s busiest hubs, shall be restricted to 478,000 flights per 12 months from 2025, down from the present cap of 500,000 flights per 12 months.

The federal government had mentioned in September that it might doubtless decrease the cap because it aimed to cut back disturbance for individuals dwelling near the airport by 20%.

Dutch airline KLM mentioned the brand new cap was “incomprehensible” because it maintained that using quieter airplanes could be a greater technique to obtain noise discount targets than reducing the variety of flights.

“Discount of flight actions will not be an finish in itself and is predicted to be legally unsustainable. We await the recommendation of the European Fee,” the airline mentioned.

The Dutch arm of airline group Air France KLM, the biggest airline at Schiphol, on Thursday had urged the federal government to rethink its technique, because it repeated its pledge to take a position 7 billion euros in quieter planes within the coming years.

The federal government mentioned the brand new flight cap was anticipated to cut back noise by 15%, whereas it might search for methods to cut back a further 5% at a later stage.

An effort to restrict flights to round 450,000 was taken off the desk final 12 months following stress from the trade and after objections from the European Union, which mentioned the federal government ought to first take a look at different choices to chop noise.

A Dutch courtroom in March ordered the federal government to do extra to chop noise air pollution at Schiphol, saying the pursuits of individuals disturbed by the airport had been ignored for years.