The quieter the better: it’s the noisiest aircraft that are disproportionately responsible for the noise nuisance that affects the airport’s neighbours. That’s why we want to ban these types of aircraft at Schiphol in the future, and we are hard at work with several parties to make this happen. One such party is the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management Mark Harbers, who is keen to amend existing regulations. And of course, we would love to hear what you think about this issue.
Published on: 27 July 2023
Thanks to fleet renewal and our revamped airport charges system (in which airlines pay less if they land at Schiphol in quieter and cleaner aircraft and more if they use noisy and polluting aircraft), the number of noisy or ‘marginally compliant’ aircraft, has already dropped significantly.
Older cargo aircraft
Ideally, we would like to ban these models from our airport altogether. At present, however, Dutch law does not permit us to do so. Infrastructure minister Mark Harbers has now made this a priority.
Mr Harbers has taken the lead in adding an amendment to the law based on an EU regulation. It’s an amendment that will allow Schiphol to deny future access to new airlines flying with these types of noisy aircraft. This can be done on the grounds of the capacity declaration, an annual specification of how many flights can take place with a particular type of aircraft in any given season. This declaration also forms part of our Minder Hinder noise reduction programme.
Have your say
Would you like have your say and let the minister know what you think about this change? Then why not take part in the internet consultation that’s currently underway? You can share your views on this topic until midnight on 16 August.
Not there yet
The minister’s amendment is a step in the right direction but we are not there yet. As mentioned above, this measure will only affect new airlines, and will have no impact on the noisy aircraft flown by airlines already using Schiphol Airport.
That’s why we intend to go one step further and tighten the maximum permitted daytime and night-time noise thresholds from 2025/2026. Our aim in doing so is to encourage the use of quieter aircraft and further reduce nuisance in the vicinity. Tightening noise standards is one of the eight points we recently announced on our way to a quieter, cleaner and better Schiphol.