Quieter planes are actually reducing noise around Schiphol Airport, measurements show
Quieter aircraft are having a noticeable effect on the noise levels around Schiphol Airport, data from the Nomos noise measurement system shows. Last year, air traffic around Schiphol was on average 2.09 decibels quieter than in the peak year of 2018. For comparison, a 3 decibel reduction would be a halving of the noise level Parool reports.
The noise level around Schiphol Airport has been an issue for years. Residents’ groups, the municipality of Amsterdam, and part of the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, have been pushing for the airport to shrink in order to reduce the noise pollution. Airlines, headed by KLM, have argued that newer and quieter aircraft will reduce the noise enough.
And the quieter aircraft are having an effect, according to an analysis of all flights measured by the Nomos noise system in 2018 and 2025. The system consists of 41 measuring poles around Schiphol that display live aircraft noise. The analysis shows that the noise level not only decreased on average over an entire year, but the consequences are also noticeable per flight.
The researchers analyzed 180,000 measurement results between June 2025 and May 2026 from ten Nomos poles and the most frequently used aircraft types: older Boeing 737NGs versus the new Airbus A320neos and A321neos. They found that in all cases, the newer plane produced much less noise per pass. For example, Airbus A321neos produce an average of 68.3 decibels during takeoff over Zwanenburg. Boeing 737s produce 71.8 decibels during the same takeoff.
The differences are also visible with larger aircraft used for international flights. A Boeing 787 Dreamliner taking off over Uithoorn produces 2 decibels less noise than an older Airbus A330 and 3.6 decibels less than a Boeing 777.
The government wants to reduce the number of people suffering serious noise nuisance around Schiphol by 20 percent. According to Minister Vincent Karremans of Infrastructure, that number has dropped by 14 percent since the government capped the number of flight movements at Schiphol to 478,000 per year in November.
Karremans will announce his plans on how to achieve the remaining 6 percent reduction this week. The aviation sector hopes that this proof that quieter aircraft are having an effect will prevent the government from shrinking Schiphol further or implementing a planned ban on night flights.
