The seemingly-endless go-round over reducing noise and other pollution at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport spins on, complicated by court orders, an impending change of government and airline objections.
The new plan calls for airlines to move to quieter planes, especially at night, with penalties or bans on the noisiest planes, and a target of 470,000 flights a year, down from 500,000 but far more than the original plan.
The original plan, for a reduction to 425,000 flights a year at the government-owned airport led to a back-and-forth of lawsuits over the past two years. The government backed down on its original plan, especially after the U.S., pushed by U.S. airlines, threatened that if they lost slots, KLM would lose slots in the U.S.
After the backdown, however, a Dutch judge ordered the government to take some significant action to reduce the noise issues around the airport, which has far more and closer neighbors than when it was originally built.
The new plan is meant to meet that mandate, which is in force even though the present government lost in the most recent election. Months of negotiations among the winning parties have produced a policy plan, but not yet a cabinet or new prime minister. KLM and other airlines, who all say it imposes an economic burden on them, want the plan postponed until the new cabinet takes office.
Stay tuned!
