Amsterdam: Schiphol Airport’s flight capacity cap for the coming season can’t go ahead, a local court ruled.
The Dutch government didn’t follow the correct procedure for a temporary arrangement to limit flights to 460,000 flights at the Amsterdam airport, a district court of Noord-Holland ruled on Wednesday. This means the government’s proposal to cut flights for the 2023-2024 season can’t go ahead.
The verdict deals a blow to the government’s plans to balance the economic importance of Schiphol as an aviation hub and the interests of residents in the surrounding area. It had outlined ultimately shrinking the Amsterdam airport’s annual flight capacity by as much as 12 per cent to 440,000 flights by 2024.
The Dutch arm of Air France-KLM, among airlines opposing the move, and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) had challenged the flight restriction saying it flies in the face of policy stability, violates international regulation and harms connectivity.
