Schiphol to impose ban on night flights

Amsterdam Schiphol is banning night flights and abandoning plans for an extra runway.

No aircraft will be allowed to take off between midnight and 6am or land between midnight and 5am.

This means 10,000 fewer night flights each year. 

The hub also wants to limit the reallocation of flights to the very start or end of the night/early morning as much as possible.

Private jets and the noisiest aircraft will also be prohibited is a bid to reduce the number of people living nearby from suffering noise nuisance.

The measures will apply no later than 2025-26, reducing the number of people around the airport experiencing severe nuisance by about 17,500 (16%) and the number facing severe sleep disturbance by 13,000 (54%).

Meanwhile, plans for an additional runway, where land has already been reserved, are being dropped altogether. 

Royal Schiphol Group chief executive Ruud Sondag said: “Schiphol connects the Netherlands with the rest of the world. We want to keep doing that, but we must do it better. 

“The only way forward is to become quieter and cleaner more rapidly. 

“We have thought about growth but too little about its impact for too long. 

“We need to be sustainable for our employees, the local environment and the world.” 

He added: ”I realise that our choices may have significant implications for the aviation industry, but they are necessary. This shows we mean business. It is the only way, based on concrete measures, to regain the trust of employees, passengers, neighbours, politics and society.”