Schiphol could give landing priority to quieter, cleaner aircraft

The Dutch government is looking into whether airlines that fly with quieter and cleaner planes can in future be given priority on landing rights at Schiphol airport, Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen of Infrastructure and Water Management promised in the Tweede Kamer on Thursday, Het Parool reports.

"Our aim is to allocate landing rights in the future to quieter and cleaner aircraft", the Minister told the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament. "I want to take a good look at this for after 2020, to limit the nuisance as much as possible and to encourage aircraft to become quieter. We are bound by European rules, but Brussels actually has the same objectives."

Schiphol is limited to 500 thousand flight movements per year until 2020, a limit the airport is very close to reaching. After 2020 the airport could expand again.

Van Nieuwenhuizen did not want to discuss growth possibilities at the airport with the parliamentarians until all the data is in order and facts are on the table, she said. "We are aware that we can no longer afford any errors, we have to make decisions based on the data."

Some parties in the Kamer also again pushed for delaying the opening of Lelystad Airport until Dutch airspace has been redivided. But Van Nieuwenhuizen did not let herself be rushed into making a decision. "I will only make a decision about Lelystad when all the facts are on the table, and that is not the case yet."