The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (I&W) has presented a new package of measures to reduce noise nuisance around Schiphol. Find out what that means in this article.
In 2022, the former Minister Harbers of I&W came up with a plan to reduce noise nuisance for those living near Schiphol by reducing the maximum number of flights at the airport to 440,000 per year.
However, in order to be able to reduce the number of flights at Schiphol, approval is required from Brussels and that is why the government started the Balanced Approach procedure. A package of measures was put together for this and presented to the European Commission. To be able to do something for the environment in anticipation of that procedure, the minister devised the Experimental Scheme. This regulation met with resistance from airlines as well as from the United States, Canada and the European Commission. The minister then decided to suspend the scheme.
Earlier this year, after the judge's ruling in a lawsuit filed by the RVB, the minister decided to modify the previously submitted package of measures.
In the meanwhile, a new cabinet has taken office and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management has a new minister: Barry Madlener (PVV). He has, based on reactions to the package published by his predecessor in June, slightly modified the set of measures.
There will be stricter noise limits at night, KLM has pledged to fly with quieter aircraft and the maximum number of flights at night is going from 32,000 down to 27,000. In addition, Schiphol will have higher airport charges for airlines flying with noisier and more polluting planes in order to encourage the use of cleaner and quieter ones, and KLM and Transavia have said they'll be renewing their fleets faster. In this package, presented to the European Commission on 4 September, there is capacity for a maximum of 475,000 to 485,000 flights. He arrived at this number because the proposed measures are expected to reduce noise nuisance to such an extent that less contraction is needed to meet the ultimate noise target. The exact maximum number of flights is still being calculated and will be announced during autumn. In order to be able to implement the intended measures in November 2025, the package has already been submitted to the European Commission.
As is also stated in our 8-point plan, we consider the reduction of noise nuisance to be crucial. The package of measures proposes to do this through differentiation of airport charges. Schiphol is already discussing this with the airlines. The point of these talks is to adjust airport charges in such a way that airlines are (financially) encouraged to fly with quieter planes.
We advocated for a night curfew in our 8-point plan and in recent talks with the ministry because we believe that it can be of great value to the local environment. Furthermore, we urged the ministry to move holiday flights and private jets to Lelystad Airport. The ministry decided not to include these suggestions in the package of measures at this time.
Schiphol places great importance on certainty and clarity for local residents, airlines, Schiphol as an organisation and our employees. With this most recent package of measures, an important step has been taken and there is a solid basis for further legislation and thus legal certainty for local residents.