New flight route to reduce noise problems after Lelystad Airport expansion

State Secretary Sharon Dijksma of Infrastructure and Environment plans to reduce noise pollution on the Veluwe after Lelystad Airport's expansion with a different flight route and by making planes fly at a higher altitude, she told the Tweede Kamer, NU.nl reports.

Lelystad Airport is set to take over a number of Schiphol's flights from 2019, but the surrounding provinces and municipalities are worried about the problems the expansion will cause. Dijksma hopes that this plan will alleviate some of their concerns.

Planes departing from Lelystad will not fly over the northern part of the Veluwe. All air traffic in the southern direction will be bundled on a single route, which splits past Apeldoorn at a higher altitude of 2.7 kilometers. Dijksma also wrote that in practice it is often possible to have planes take off faster. This will lead to more efficient flying and less noise on the ground, according to her.

As yet, no solution has been found for parachuting from the Teuge airport, which has to move due to Lelystad's expansion, Dijksma wrote to the Tweede Kamer - the lower house of Dutch parliament. If the parachute center has to close, the Teuge airport will lose half of its revenue and may have to close itself. Dijksma is still looking for an alternative parachuting location.

The Teuge airport suggested alternative flight routes to be used by Lelystad, so that the parachuting can continue. But according to Dijksma, these alternatives caused other problems, including obstructing air traffic to Schiphol.

The parliamentary committee for Infrastructure was recently handed a petition with over 80 thousand signatures against the flight routes planned for Lelystad Airport after its expansion. The Tweede Kamer will discuss this next week.