Amsterdam court gives green light to plan to reduce flights at busy Schiphol Airport
Appeals court judges in Amsterdam say the Dutch government can order Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s busiest aviation hubs, to reduce the number of flights from 500,000 per year to 460,000
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Appeals court judges in Amsterdam ruled Friday that the Dutch government can order Schiphol Airport, one of Europe's busiest aviation hubs, to reduce the number of flights from 500,000 per year to 460,000.
The Amsterdam Court of Appeal overturned a lower court that concluded in April the government of the Netherlands did not follow the correct procedure when it told Schiphol last year to cut flights.
The airport, civil aviation organizations and airlines that included Dutch flag carrier KLM challenged the government's order. Friday's decision can be appealed to the Dutch Supreme Court.
The Amsterdam appeals court said in a statement Friday that it “attaches considerable weight to the interests of local residents” in the densely populated region where people have complained for years about noise pollution from the airport.
In a written response, Schiphol said it accepted the ruling and hopes for a new aviation traffic order from Dutch authorities “as soon as possible with clear and enforceable environmental limits that provide clarity and perspective for all parties involved.”
The airport said that “the most important thing for us is that Schiphol becomes quieter, cleaner and better.”
Schiphol already is attempting to reduce noise. Earlier this year, the airport announced plans to phase out all flights between midnight and 5 a.m., to ban private jets and the noisiest planes, and to abandon a project for an additional runway.