Schiphol Airport will have limited space for private jets as of March 31, 2024, due to the capacity declaration, which was approved by the Dutch government last month, despite all bodies and organizations’ strong opposition.
The latest to have complained about the situation is JetBlue Airways, which lodged a complaint with the US Department of Transportation against the Dutch government’s flight reduction decision, as well as the European Union, claiming that the move violates the US-EU Air Transport Agreement.
The number of flights, set at 452,500 per year, is around ten per cent below pre-pandemic levels and has effectively turned new airlines away from Schiphol airport. JetBlue calls the act unfair and disproportionate, affecting new airlines like themselves significantly. The American-based airline has called on the US government to take similar measures against Dutch airlines if no agreement is reached.
Air France-KLM, as well as IATA and ACI Europe, have all criticised the Dutch government’s decision to cut flights , while the French Airline took legal action against the cap.
According to a press release by the Schiphol airport, the capacity declaration reduces the number of flights allowed to be operated by 12,400 compared to the summer of 2023, which means that a maximum of 280,645 flights will be operated in the summer season of 2024, starting on March 31 and lasting until October 26, 2024.
“Schiphol has taken the maximum of 460,000 flights in a full operating year (summer and winter) into account. This figure has been set out in the government’s experimental scheme, which puts an end to anticipatory enforcement,”
Consequently, the proportion of ‘small business traffic,’ which includes the number of private flights allowed, will drop by 40 per cent, whereas the new maximum for the entire year is set at 12,000 flights. However, more than half – 7,200 of flights are expected to be operated during the summer season. In the previous year, 17,000 flights were allowed for the summer season alone.
The new changes follow Schiphol’s goal to eventually ban entirely private flights to and from Schiphol, as stated in the eight-point plan published in April.
However, a cap on the flights is not the only improvement that the Dutch government plans but also includes policies on banning the noisiest planes. The airport has listed some 87 aircraft types that will no longer be allowed as of the summer season. These types of aircraft were already no longer flying to and from Schiphol, but the ban in the capacity declaration means that there is a guarantee that they cannot come back either.
Schiphol encourages the use of quieter aircraft by way of airport changes, and as a result, airlines need to pay five times more when flying with the noisiest and most polluting planes compared to quiet and cleaner aircraft.
