Dutch Government Puts Forward 478,000 Flight Cap Plan For Schiphol

The government of the Netherlands has put forward a plan to cap flights at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol at 478,000 movements per year, in the latest step in a long-running saga over how to manage noise at one of Europe’s busiest airports.

The plan has been met with “incomprehension” by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, whose hub is at the airport.

Schiphol has been at the center of a high-profile debate over aviation’s impact on its surroundings, which began when the government put forward an initial bid to introduce a flight cap at the airport at 460,000 flight movements.

That led initially to a legal spat between airlines and the government and ended with a ruling that the Netherlands needed to follow the European Union’s Balanced Approach procedure, which member states must put in place if they want to reduce noise levels at an airport.

In the meantime, KLM had proposed its own plan to reduce noise at Schiphol.

KLM reacted to the new proposed flight cap, saying that it embraced the goal of reducing noise and was investing €7 billion ($7.3 billion) in quieter aircraft, alongside other plans such as making use of its quietest aircraft at night and making changes to flight approach procedures.

Schiphol airport operator Royal Schiphol Group also mooted its own plan to reduce noise, including banning private aviation and introducing a curfew at night.

The latest government proposal “shows that a smaller Schiphol is not necessary to achieve the noise targets,” said the airline, which is part of the Air France-KLM Group. “KLM finds it incomprehensible that the cabinet still intends to reduce to 478,000 aircraft movements.”

It warned, “Limiting the number of flights also carries a significant risk of retaliatory measures from other countries, which will not only affect aviation but also other Dutch companies.”

The airline said it had doubts about the assumptions on which the ministry had based the number and said the decision-making process did not meet the requirements of a careful Balanced Approach procedure.

“Reduction of flight movements is not an end in itself and is expected to be legally unsustainable,” KLM said. “We await the advice of the European Commission.”