Amsterdam court gives green light to plan to reduce flights at busy Schiphol Airport

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Appeals court judges in Amsterdam ruled Friday that the Dutch government can order Schiphol Airport, one of Europe's busiest aviation hubs, to reduce the number of flights from 500,000 per year to 460,000.

The Amsterdam Court of Appeal overturned a lower court that concluded in April the government of the Netherlands did not follow the correct procedure when it told Schiphol last year to cut flights.

The airport, civil aviation organizations and airlines that included Dutch flag carrier KLM challenged the government's order. Friday's decision can be appealed to the Dutch Supreme Court.

The Amsterdam appeals court said in a statement Friday that it “attaches considerable weight to the interests of local residents” in the densely populated region where people have complained for years about noise pollution from the airport.

In a written response, Schiphol said it accepted the ruling and hopes for a new aviation traffic order from Dutch authorities “as soon as possible with clear and enforceable environmental limits that provide clarity and perspective for all parties involved.”

The airport said that “the most important thing for us is that Schiphol becomes quieter, cleaner and better.”

KLM said it was “disappointed about the ruling” and studying it.

The carrier said it would “continue to engage with other stakeholders in seeking the best way to reduce the number of people affected by aircraft noise.”

Schiphol already is attempting to address the issue. Earlier this year, the airport announced plans to phase out all flights between midnight and 5 a.m., to ban private jets and the noisiest planes, and to abandon a project for an additional runway.