Dutch government scraps plan to cap flights at Schiphol next…
Facing pressure from the US government and the EU, the Dutch government has given up on a plan to cap the maximum number of flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport next summer, calling the decision “a bitter pill”. This a win for the airlines, that had opposed the cap – and a loss for environmental and resident groups living near Schiphol that had supported the cap. There is a national election on November 22nd, so the attitude of the next government might differ. The plan to cap the number of flights at Schiphol at around 450,000 flights, or 10% below 2019 levels, had been primarily driven by the desire to cut noise pollution. It had also been cheered by environmentalists as needed to reduce CO2 and NOx emissions. The cuts were starting to hit airlines, having to reduce the number of Schiphol flights, so losing money. So the US government threatened retaliation if the Dutch went ahead with the plan, which the US said violated the US-EU Air Transport Agreement. The cap will now await a Supreme Court ruling and further European Commission feedback expected next year. Airlines said they wanted to “fly more quietly and sustainably” without cutting numbers …. Tweet Dutch government scraps plan to cap flights at Schiphol next year By Toby Sterling and Bart H. Meijer November 14, 2023 AMSTERDAM, Nov 14 (Reuters) – Facing pressure from the U.S. government and the European Union, the Dutch government on Tuesday gave up on a plan to cap the maximum number of flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport next summer, calling the decision “a bitter pill”. The decision is a victory for the airline industry including Air France-KLM’s (AIRF.PA) Dutch subsidiary, and U.S. airlines including Delta (DAL.N) and JetBlue (JBLU.O), which had opposed the cap – and a loss for environmentalist and resident groups living near Schiphol who had supported the cap. “I emphasize that the cabinet is still committed to restoring the balance between Schiphol and its environment,” infrastructure minister Mark Harbers said in a letter to parliamen
