Dutch court blocks plans to cut Schiphol airport flights

The Hague: A Dutch court on Wednesday blocked government plans for limiting flights at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, one of Europe's busiest hubs, to stem noise pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Major airlines including KLM, Delta and EasyJet took the Dutch government to court in March over plans to cut flights from 500,000 to 460,000 a year in 2023-2024.

A judge at a district court ruled that the government "has not gone through the correct procedure" and had broken EU rules on consulting stakeholders including airlines.

"This means that as a result of this decision, Schiphol may not reduce the maximum number of flights to 460,000 for the coming season," the court in the city of Haarlem, near the airport, said in a statement.

But the court ruled that the Dutch government had followed the rules for a proposal to reduce flights to 440,000 a year by 2025, although they have not yet been finalised.

The court ruling comes a day after Schiphol said it was banning private jets and night flights and ditching plans for a new runway to reduce emissions and noise.

Dutch flag carrier KLM said the ruling brought "clarity".

"We would rather cooperate with the other parties than face them in court," KLM said in a statement.

The airline said the measures it had proposed offered a "better alternative for achieving less noise and CO2 while meeting travellers' need to fly."

Environmental group Greenpeace said it was "of course disappointed".

"Major polluter KLM is thus dealing a slap in the face to local residents, the climate and the government that saved the company from bankruptcy," it said.

KLM received a Dutch government bailout during the Covid pandemic when passenger numbers plummeted.

Schiphol airport is a major employer and economic force in the Netherlands, but its environmental impact is increasingly under scrutiny in a low-lying country vulnerable to the effects of climate change.