7 May 2025
The Dutch government has taken – as they say – ‘an important next step to restore the legal position of residents around Schiphol and to also offer future prospects for the aviation sector. To this end, the government has taken one politically coherent decision to arrive at both a shortened amendment to the Airport Traffic Decree, in which the maximum number of 478,000 aircraft movements (of which 27,000 at night) is laid down as the outcome of the balanced approach procedure, as well as a policy change for the remaining noise target, with which autonomous fleet renewal after November 2025 will become part of the measures to achieve the remaining noise target. After that, there will be room for controlled growth. Part of the decision is that the noise space that arises from further quieting of the fleet will be divided equally between the aviation sector and the surrounding area, this will be elaborated and laid down. This amendment creates prospects for both the aviation sector and the surrounding area.’
Of course, there is a lot of criticism of this decision. You can argue that only 400,000 flights are legal, that a reduction in the number of night flights from 32,000 to 27,000 means that you now wake up 4 times a night instead of 5 times, that with 250,000 flights the Netherlands already has more than enough for people who live here or have to be here, that 20 percent fewer seriously affected people means that 80 percent could suffocate, and so on.
But the fact is that it is unique that an airport has to limit the number of flights. On the other hand, Minister Madlener is accommodating the aviation industry by promising that if the 20 percent is reached, growth will still be possible. That is of course a sad turn of events, because the nuisance will not decrease with the supposedly quieter aircraft. It is mainly the number of times that aircraft fly over that determines how much you are bothered. Only dismantling the hub will provide sufficient relief from the nuisance, not only in terms of noise, but also in terms of emissions.
