New flight path may cause more noise pollution in Utrecht, Gelderland

A fourth air traffic landing route will be added to Schiphol in the coming years. As a result, planes will either fly over the province of Utrecht in the southeast or the province of Gelderland in the southwest, according to RTL Nieuws.

Currently, air traffic approaches Schiphol from three directions: over the North Sea, over Rotterdam and over Lelystad. The fourth flight path will accompany an upcoming reorganization of the Dutch airspace, according to Minister Mark Harbers (Infrastructure and Water Management).

The minister told RTL that the addition will mean planes coming from Central Europe, the Middle East and beyond can follow a more direct path, "resulting in fewer emissions of harmful substances and less noise pollution." However, the new route has raised concerns among residents of Gelderland and Utrecht, as well as pushback from the provinces themselves.

"The ministry can claim that those planes will go around villages and nature reserves, but that is simply not possible, if you want to fly them in direct lines to Schiphol," said Han van Staveren from Elst. Documents from Harbers revealed that 42,000 flights per year will take the new route –– or 120 per day, as Van Staveren pointed out.

"We now have 120 departing aircraft a day and they come over at a distance of about 6 kilometers," Klaas Wagenaar from Wageningen told RTL. "That is bearable, especially in relation to the nuisance that people in Aalsmeer have from air traffic. The new approach point will add 120 arriving aircraft, at 2 or 2.5 kilometers altitude. That is annoying and I personally don't like it."

The provinces Gelderland and Utrecht have also asked for clarification about the routes. "We think it is important that the effects on the ground are mapped out," Utrecht wrote last year, according to RTL.

Harbers responded that the planning and calculations of the route is "only just beginning." The routes for the next two years are currently being planned, after which another official decision will take place.