KLM embraces the goals for reducing noise nuisance for residents around Schiphol. Therefore, we are investing 7 billion euros in quieter aircraft and have proposed significant measures in the Cleaner, Quieter, More Efficient plan. This shows that a smaller Schiphol is not necessary to achieve the noise targets. KLM finds it incomprehensible that the cabinet still intends to reduce to 478,000 aircraft movements.
Limiting the number of flights also carries a significant risk of retaliatory measures from other countries, which will not only affect aviation but also other Dutch companies.
We have serious doubts about the assumptions on which the ministry has based this number. The decision-making process does not meet the requirements of a careful Balanced Approach procedure, in which achieving the intended policy goal is central: noise reduction. Reduction of flight movements is not an end in itself and is expected to be legally unsustainable. We await the advice of the European Commission.
Aviation will always play a role in our lives if we want to explore the world, conduct business, and visit family. If the Netherlands is without a well-connected Schiphol, we are taking gigantic steps back in time. That is why it is so important that this decision is made on the right grounds.
