A court decision may now make Amsterdam Airport Schiphol's (AMS) efforts to end late-night flights and reduce noise pollution more challenging.
In a lawsuit, a judge ruled on Tuesday that AMS, one of Europe's busiest airports, cannot decrease its annual flight volume from 500,000 to 460,000 from 2023 to 2024. The case against the flight caps was organized by the Dutch flag carrier KLM.
The court found that the Dutch government had violated European legislation, which stipulates that flight restrictions should only be implemented after all other options for reducing noise pollution have been explored.
The decision was made a day after Schiphol declared it will implement a new curfew, reduce flights between midnight and five in the morning, ban private jets and louder planes, and shelve plans for an additional runway.
Airlines, companies, and civil aviation organizations objected when the Dutch government initially announced its plans to limit the number of flights at Schiphol. As a result, KLM and other airlines like Delta Air Lines, Corendon Airlines, EasyJet, and TUI filed a lawsuit to contest the effort.
In a statement, KLM stated that the next round of the lawsuit will focus on demonstrating further methods to lower carbon dioxide emissions and noise pollution.
According to KLM, "This will examine whether noise levels may be decreased near Schiphol using means other than those anticipated by the government."
The greatest technique to lessen the number of persons who are impacted by aircraft noise is probably through a balanced approach.
It's not the first time Schiphol has come under fire.
Long security lines, lengthy delays of up to six hours, and numerous delayed flights plagued the airport last summer, mostly as a result of staffing shortages and ongoing flight reductions.
Due to the mayhem that developed over the summer, Schiphol decided to impose limits on the number of people leaving the airport till early 2023.
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