Dutch government scraps plan to cap flights at Schiphol next year
Facing pressure from the US government and the EU, the Dutch government has given up on a plan to cap the maximum number of flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport next summer, calling the decision “a bitter pill”. This a win for the airlines, that had opposed the cap – and a loss for environmental and resident groups living near Schiphol that had supported the cap. There is a national election on November 22nd, so the attitude of the next government might differ. The plan to cap the number of flights at Schiphol at around 450,000 flights, or 10% below 2019 levels, had been primarily driven by the desire to cut noise pollution. It had also been cheered by environmentalists as needed to reduce CO2 and NOx emissions. The cuts were starting to hit airlines, having to reduce the number of Schiphol flights, so losing money. So the US government threatened retaliation if the Dutch went ahead with the plan, which the US said violated the US-EU Air Transport Agreement. The cap will now await a Supreme Court ruling and further European Commission feedback expected next year. Airlines said they wanted to “fly more quietly and sustainably” without cutting numbers ….
Dutch government scraps plan to cap flights at Schiphol next year
By Toby Sterling and Bart H. Meijer
November 14, 2023
AMSTERDAM, Nov 14 (Reuters) – Facing pressure from the U.S. government and the European Union, the Dutch government on Tuesday gave up on a plan to cap the maximum number of flights at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport next summer, calling the decision “a bitter pill”.
The decision is a victory for the airline industry including Air France-KLM’s (AIRF.PA) Dutch subsidiary, and U.S. airlines including Delta (DAL.N) and JetBlue (JBLU.O), which had opposed the cap – and a loss for environmentalist and resident groups living near Schiphol who had supported the cap.
“I emphasize that the cabinet is still committed to restoring the balance between Schiphol and its environment,” infrastructure minister Mark Harbers said in a letter to parliament. Harbers said the cabinet would continue to pursue the plan. It is not certain, however, that a new cabinet will have the same priorities after a national election on Nov. 22.
The plan to cap the number of flights at Schiphol, one of Europe’s busiest hubs, at around 450,000 flights, or 10% below 2019 levels, had been primarily driven by the desire to cut noise pollution. It had also been cheered by environmentalists as needed to reduce carbon dioxide and nitrogen emissions.
Opposition swelled this month after the Dutch slot coordinator announced costly cuts for airlines including KLM and exclusion for JetBlue, which began flying from Schiphol to New York and Boston this year.
That led the U.S. government on Nov. 3 to threaten retaliation if the Dutch went ahead with the plan, with the Department of Transportation calling it “unreasonable” and saying it violated the U.S.-EU Air Transport Agreement.
Deputy U.S. Transportation Secretary Polly Trottenberg said it was the “right decision” by the Dutch to drop the plan and said the department would not move forward with any countermeasures, which JetBlue had asked for.
Harbers’ letter to parliament said that after a U.S.-E.U. meeting on Nov. 13, European Commissioner for Transport Adina Valean had sent the Dutch government a letter expressing “serious concerns” about whether the cap had been properly vetted.
“The Netherlands has come to stand alone” on the cap policy, Harbers said, adding that it will now await a Supreme Court ruling and further European Commission feedback expected next year.
“This is a heavy setback, but the number of flights must be lowered in order to make the Netherlands livable and to tackle the climate crisis,” Greenpeace said in reaction. “Voters can express their opinion about that next week.”
Several airlines welcomed the decision, with “SkyTeam” partners KLM and Delta saying they remain committed to flying more quietly and sustainably “without reducing capacity.” JetBlue said its entry at Schiphol had lowered fares and urged governments to continue to ensure it has access.
Industry group Airlines for America thanked the U.S. government, saying its discussions with the EU had been “instrumental to persuading the Dutch government to this successful outcome.”
Reporting by Toby Sterling and Bart H. Meijer in the Netherlands and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Jonathan Oatis and Grant McCool.
See earlier:
Schiphol flights to be limited to 11% below 2019 levels to cut noise
After pressure from communities in the Netherlands, the Dutch Parliament has said Schiphol must reduce its flights from 500,000 a year to a maximum of 440,000 by 2023 in order to cut the noise experienced by impacted communities. That cut is 11% less than in 2019 (about 510,000). It is understand from the Dutch aviation campaigners that the mix in the current Dutch Parliament helped. The Netherlands has proportional representation and enough small parties backed the proposals to get it agreed. The decision follows a move by Schiphol itself, in which the Dutch state is the majority shareholder, to impose a cap on the number passengers it can carry this summer – although that was due to staffing shortages. Part of the reason is awareness fo the carbon emissions. Airlines, predictably, are not happy. Greenpeace, which had lobbied for traffic at Schiphol to be reduced, hailed the decision as a “historic breakthrough”. This might be the first time a major airport has been asked to reduce flight numbers.
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New €7.45 tax per passenger departing from a Dutch airport in 2021
From 1st January 2021, every passenger departing from an airport in the Netherlands will pay an additional tax of €7.45. It was first proposed in May 2019. The Dutch government decided to introduce this tax on commercial aviation in line with global climate goals given that international flights contribute to carbon emissions but, unlike cars, buses or trains, are currently not taxed (it pays no fuel duty and no VAT). The Dutch government expects to collect an estimated €200 million from this tax, in a normal flying year. In May of 2019, former Finance Minister Menno Snel said that the revenues would “help close the price gap between plane tickets and, for example, train tickets.” A previously proposed taxation bill for air freight was cancelled as a study revealed that freighters would divert to surrounding countries, which would have major consequences for both Schiphol and Maastricht Airport. Eight other European countries want the European Commission to come up with a proposal for a European taxation on commercial aviation, and it needs cooperation. A report in 2019 showed that a tax on jet fuel in the EU would cut carbon emissions while having limited impact on employment.
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