Minister wants extra measures: this is what Schiphol thinks

In the summer of 2022, Minister Harbers (formerly of I&W, succeeded by Barry Madlener as of 2 July 2024) announced that he wanted to reduce the number of flight movements to and from Schiphol. To do that, the government is obliged to follow the so-called Balanced Approach procedure. In that context, Minister Harbers previously submitted a package of measures to the European Commission.

Last May, it emerged that Minister Harbers had modified this package of nuisance-reducing measures. If it is up to him, the Aalsmeerbaan and Zwanenburgbaan runways will have to close between 13:00 and 15:00 as of 2025. Furthermore, the government plans to introduce a (partial) night curfew starting November 2026. The minister has also devised additional measures to reduce noise nuisance around Schiphol and restore the legal position of local residents.

The reason for these additional plans is the judge's ruling in the lawsuit brought by Stichting Recht op Bescherming tegen Vliehininder (a foundation advocating for the right to protection against noise nuisance from air traffic). According to the judge, the Dutch State has not sufficiently protected the interests of local residents in recent years. The ruling means, among other things, that the government must ensure that the applicable laws and regulations are applied and enforced within 12 months. The minister's adjustments are a response to this.

Over the past period, anyone who wanted to do so was able to comment on the minister's additional plans. Schiphol has also submitted a so-called view. We think the adjusted package of measures is a step in the right direction, but we have a number of comments:

• We think that making less frequent use of secondary runways is not an effective measure. Firstly, rescheduling flights leads to different arrival and departure times abroad. If there is no room for this at those airports, the result will be delays at Schiphol. Secondly, moving flights means that the use of secondary runways actually increases at other times of the day, negating the positive effect for local residents.
• We see that the actual impact of charges differentiation (where airlines that fly cleaner, quieter aircraft pay lower airport charges) is different and may be greater than the ministry anticipates. The authority to charge different rates lies entirely with Schiphol, we are currently in discussions with the airlines about the airport charges for the period 2025-2027.
• We support the plan to ban noisy aircraft, but we believe it is important that there is room for cargo, provided it is cleaner and quieter. We also want to introduce this measure during the day and will discuss this with the European Commission.
• We advocate a partial night curfew rather than fewer flights at night and would like to introduce this measure sooner.

In addition, we request that the minister adds two additional measures to the package:

• A (further) reduction in the number of private jets taking off from and landing at Schiphol.
• Contribution to the Environmental Fund. This fund helps to improve quality of life for local residents.

These two additional measures are also part of the eight-point plan that we launched in 2023 with the aim of making Schiphol quieter, cleaner and better. Want to read more? Take a look at this webpage.