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Netherlands to prohibit loudest night flights at Schiphol airport

The Dutch federal government wants fewer night flights at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport and to ban the loudest night flights by 2025 to decrease sound pollution, Facilities Minister Mark Harbers said in a letter to parliament on Friday.

The move, which will limit traffic at one of Europe's. busiest centers, comes after a local court in March purchased the. government to do more to cut noise pollution.

Harbers added that the variety of night flights would lower. from 32,000 to 27,000 in 2025, that the loudest airplane, such. as the Boeing 747-400, would be prohibited between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. and that the air travel sector is asked to change part of its. airplane by less noisy aircraft.

He also stated that the federal government is considering a complete. or partial night closure of Schiphol as of November 2026, a strategy. Schiphol CEO last year endorsed in regional media.

Schiphol agreed to increase the expenses for utilizing loud. aircraft with the objective of motivating business to opt for. quieter planes.

The Dutch government last year attempted to restrict flights with. the support of Schiphol to around 450,000, or 10% below 2019. levels, in an effort to restrict noise.

But it bowed to market pressure and objections from the. European Union, which stated it must initially look at other. possibilities to cut sound. In December Schiphol said it would. have the capacity for 483,000 flights this year.

(source: Reuters)