Industry bodies including the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Airlines for Europe (A4E) and the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) have called on the Dutch government to safeguard connectivity, following its decision to cap annual flights at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.
Schiphol has been limited to 478,000 flights this year, down from 500,000 – although not as low as the 460,000 cap which had previously been sought by the government.
IATA, A4E and ERA urged authorities to follow the European Commission’s Balanced Approach recommendations aimed at reducing noise pollution around the airport.
The joint appeal said that the recommendations “reinforce that cutting flights should not be the goal – achieving meaningful noise reduction should be”.
The bodies said that “The aviation industry is actively advancing noise reduction through fleet modernisation, improved operational procedures and innovation, demonstrating its commitment to sustainable progress”.
But they warned that “arbitrary capacity cuts” would “undermine further investments in quieter, more fuel-efficient aircraft”.
The bodies also said that measures presented by the Dutch authorities had been targeted solely at commercial aviation, “despite the noise emitted by general and business aviation being included in the baseline scenario”.
“Contrary to the Dutch Government’s claims, the EU Commission’s assessment specifically states that the Dutch Government ‘did not fully follow’ the Balanced Approach [BA] at Schiphol,” said Rafael Schvartzman, IATA’s regional vice president for Europe.
“Most fundamentally, the process cannot be driven by a predetermination that annual operations must be reduced to a certain level.
“The Minister’s failure to adhere to the prescribed procedure and misinterpretation of the EU Decision undermines the integrity of the BA process across the EU as a whole and the Netherlands’ legal obligations under air services agreements.
“A new BA is urgently required to rectify these findings prior to any implementation of flight reductions.”
Dutch flag carrier KLM has also warned against the flight cap, stating that “The focus should be on achieving the government’s noise reduction targets, which KLM supports”.
“Due to the extensive network of flight destinations, the Netherlands is one of the best-connected countries in the world,” said the carrier.
“This is crucial as our economy relies on international trade. National measures have a direct impact on the position of KLM and the Netherlands, especially now that surrounding countries in Europe are discussing the expansion of their airports. What is dismantled now cannot be regained.”
