KLM and IATA plan legal appeals against the limitation of flights at Schiphol airport

KLM and other airlines that use Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport announced on Friday that they will sue the Dutch government over its plan to limit the number of annual flights allowed at their facilities, claiming it would harm them, the Dutch economy and the Travellers.

A spokesman for KLM, the Dutch arm of the Air France-KLM group, which accounts for 60% of the flights at Schiphol, said the companies involved have sent a summons for the government to appear in court in Haarlem District Court.

In June 2022, as Schiphol was battling labor shortages, the Dutch government declared that it would reduce the annual flight limit at the airport to 440,000, from the current 500,000, in order to combat noise pollution and help meet climate goals.

The government recently said it could adopt an annual cap of 460,000 starting in November as an interim step.

However, the airlines that have joined the lawsuit, which also include Delta, EasyJet, TUI and Corendon, described the decision as “unilateral and sudden”.

“The airlines argue that, in addition to violating national, European and international law, the decision is unnecessary, harmful and unsubstantiated, given that the airline industry is already achieving significant results in terms of reducing CO2 emissions and lowering noise levels”, they pointed out.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Infrastructure, responsible for the decision to limit flights, stated that the portfolio is studying its response.

For its part, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) expressed in a statement its support for the airlines’ lawsuit and its intention to file a parallel appeal on the grounds that the measure violates both European Union legislation and the Convention of Chicago regarding operating restrictions related to noise.

Source: Reuters