The Netherlands government has announced that total flight capacity at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport will be cut by 4.4 per cent to 478,000 flights per year in 2025.
But the decision was criticised by KLM, Schiphol’s largest airline, which said the move was “incomprehensible” and could lead to “retaliatory measures” from other countries.
The new Dutch coalition government announced in September that it would cut Schiphol’s capacity from its current 500,000 annual flights to between 475,000 to 485,000 per year to reduce noise pollution from the hub airport.
The infrastructure ministry has now confirmed the reduction to 478,000 flights next year – although this is higher than the previous government’s plan to cut the number of flights at Schiphol to 460,000 annually from April 2024, which eventually had to be suspended following several legal challenges.
In a statement, KLM said it was helping to reduce noise at Schiphol by investing €7 billion in buying new quieter aircraft.
“This shows that a smaller Schiphol is not necessary to achieve the noise targets. KLM finds it incomprehensible that the cabinet still intends to reduce to 478,000 aircraft movements,” added the airline.
“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.
“We have serious doubts about the assumptions on which the ministry has based this number. The decision-making process does not meet the requirements of a careful, balanced approach procedure, in which achieving the intended policy goal is central: noise reduction.”
KLM added that reducing flights at Schiphol was “expected to be legally unsustainable” and it was “awaiting the advice” of the European Commission, which objected to previous attempts to cut capacity at the airport.
Schiphol said it supported the government in maintaining “a good balance between the airport and its surrounding environment”. The airport added that it was using its new regime of airline charges to make operating newer, quieter aircraft “more financially attractive”.
“Based on our expertise, we have shared insights and calculations with the ministry,” said Schiphol in a statement. “These are partly informed by data Schiphol has received from airlines about changes to their fleets in response to our new tariffs.
“There appears to be a difference between our insights and the ministry's assumptions. We are keen to engage in discussions with the ministry to better understand how they have arrived at their proposed adjusted package of measures.”