More noise pollution expected as Schiphol runway maintenance gets green light

Amsterdam residents must prepare themselves for a noisy summer. Minister Barry Madlener of Infrastructure has given Schiphol the green light for its controversial summer maintenance, which will close one runway for months and increase noise pollution on the other approach routes. The Minister did give the airport much less room to move flights than it wanted, Parool reports.

Schiphol wants to take the important Buitenveldert runway out of service for 20 weeks between May and September to carry out major maintenance. This maintenance typically happens in the late winter and early spring, but according to the airport, that was impossible this time. Last year, Schiphol’s unexpectedly long summer maintenance caused a sharp increase in noise complaints from locals.

“A high-quality infrastructure at Schiphol is necessary to enable operations at the airport with minimal disruption,” Madlener said on Monday, giving the airport the go-ahead to close the runway.

The airport wanted to distribute the over 10,000 flights that typically use the Buitenveldert runway during this period over the five other runways this summer. To do so, Schiphol asked for more generous noise standards at 12 locations in the area, but Madlener only permitted it to exceed the noise regulations at three enforcement points.

“The nuisance experienced by locals in spring and summer is a lot more negative than in the winter period. People spend more time outside or sleep with the window open, for example. That is why Schiphol is given less noise space than it deems necessary,” the Minister said.

Schiphol must now figure out how to distribute its air traffic across the other runways without exceeding the noise limits at the other nine enforcement points. The airport expects it to be possible to maintain sufficient flights this summer within Madlener’s restrictions, a spokesperson told Parool.

The maintenance of the Buitenveldert runway will start on May 10. The runway’s asphalt, underlay, lighting, cables, pipes, drainage, and flight systems will be replaced. According to the schedule, the work should be completed on September 28, though the runway will still be partly out of use until November.