Schiphol is taking several measures to better protect you, as someone who works on Airside, against VDME and ultrafine particles. Ultrafine particles are produced during the combustion of diesel and kerosene. That’s why we are replacing more and more vehicles and no longer buying diesel-powered ones.
We are also increasing the distance between you and the vehicles and planes. We are doing this by working with KLM and LVNL to design and implement new arrival and departure procedures. These should be ready by 2030 and will involve aircraft starting their engines not at the gate but further away. We also advise our employees to wear respiratory protection masks when working on the apron. Schiphol provides these masks.
Furthermore, we’re carrying out tests to investigate how we can remove ultrafine particles from the apron. For example, we’re looking at the effects of blowing clean air onto the apron.