The Dutch government has won an appeal decision that will allow it to cut flights at Schiphol Airport to 460,000, down from the present 500,000 on grounds that the higher number was already illegal.
Originally, the government had called for the reduction, to be followed later by another 20,000, as a way to control noise nuisance in the area of the airport as well as to reduce emissions.
Airlines and the airport itself sued, saying that they would suffer economic harm, and that the government had not followed required policies for consulting and considering alternates, and a lower court agreed. On appeal, the higher court ruled that the airport had been out of compliance for years, and that the government was now free to enforce rules that had been in effect, but unenforced.
The battle may not be over, however: the airlines have said they will appeal this decision to the Supreme Court, the highest court in the Netherlands.
