Carriers, Air Orgs to Appeal Schiphol Flight-Cap Allowance

KLM, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, JetBlue, Air Canada and several other carriers, joined by trade groups Airlines for America and the International Air Transport Association, have filed an appeal at the Dutch Supreme Court to overturn the July 7 decision that allows the Dutch government to reduce flight caps at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

Several of the carriers and Airlines for America shared a joint statement in which they said they “will institute cassation proceedings” against the Amsterdam Court of Appeal’s judgment “regarding the proposed implementation of a temporary experimentation rule” in which the Dutch government plans to reduce Schiphol flights from a cap of 500,000 take-offs and landings to 460,000 in November 2023 and then to 440,000 in 2024.

The July 7 decision was a reversal of an April decision by a lower court in favor of the carriers and industry organizations, who had sued the Dutch government in March.

“The current judgement by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal creates a lack of clarity and causes uncertainty for passengers and the aviation sector,” according to the joint statement. “This is because it is unclear how the experimental scheme will be applied, how it should be enforced and ultimately how the ruling will affect the number of aircraft movements at Schiphol. Moreover, the judgement conflicts with national, European and international regulations. It is in the interests of all parties to obtain clarity.”

RELATED: In Reversal, Court to Allow Gov’t to Limit Schiphol Flights