Schiphol night flight ban could help 9,500 locals, won't affect hub-function much
Closing Schiphol at night would bring peace and quiet to 9,500 locals whose sleep is currently severely disturbed by aircraft noise, RTL Nieuws reports based on an analysis Schiphol sent to the Cabinet earlier this year. Banning night flights would hit Transavia hard, but would not jeopardize Schiphol’s hub function, the analysis shows.
Reducing noise pollution for locals has been high on the political agenda since a court ruled earlier this year that the government has been ignoring locals’ interests in favor of the airport’s economic interests for years.
The government previously promised to send an impact analysis to parliament before the summer. It got delayed and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management hopes to submit it soon, according to RTL Nieuws. The broadcaster discovered that Schiphol did its own impact analysis and submitted it to the Cabinet earlier.
According to Schiphol’s analysis, night flights cause 10 times as much nuisance as flights during the day. A night closure is, therefore, the most effective measure to reduce disruption quickly. A quieter fleet or flying less at night - options Minister Barry Madlener is examining - will be much less effective. The RIVM previously discovered that the slightest form of noise pollution already significantly increases the chance of sleep disturbance. Only a night closure eliminates that completely.
The party most affected by a night closure would be Transavia. The KLM subsidiary carried out two-thirds of the 8,300-night flights at Schiphol last year. Cargo flights accounted for 10 percent of that number, other holiday flights for 17 percent, and KLM for 4 percent.
According to Schiphol, holiday airlines like Transavia could continue serving their customers by moving their flights to Lelystad Airport. A majority in parliament is currently against opening Lelystad Airport for commercial air traffic, though Minister Madlener said he hopes to do so next year.
