Cabinet: Schiphol will be limited to 440,000 flights per year

The number of flights at Schiphol will be limited to 440,000 flights per year. The Cabinet is sticking to that figure, Infrastructure Minister Mark Harbers said on Friday. Earlier this week, the airport company said it did not want to shrink beyond 460,000 flights.

"We're going back to 440,000 flights," the minister announced. "The first step is 460,000 flights starting this November. And I think it's very commendable that Schiphol then says, 'We're working on that right now.’ For the next step, the process starts soon. But the Cabinet is in the process of moving that forward."

Harbers doesn't feel the airport is shrugging off the criticism. His discussions with Schiphol showed that the company is "deadly serious" about its problems with the surrounding area, noise pollution and its relationship with residents, he told the Council of Ministers.

However, the minister said, Schiphol is right that in the future the number of flights will no longer be considered, but the environmental impact. The environmental emissions associated with those 440,00 flights will be the new cap in the future. And Schiphol, said Harbers, "wants nothing more than to move to this new system." But more research is still needed before that can happen.