The Supreme Court in the Netherlands has upheld an earlier ruling against the Dutch government’s policy of cutting capacity at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport by as much as 20 per cent.

Plans had been unveiled to reduce annual flights at Schiphol from 500,000 to 460,000 from April 2024 to reduce noise pollution, with further cuts to services in the following years. But this “experimental” policy was suspended in November 2023 following intense pressure from airlines, as well as the EU and US authorities.

Now the Netherlands’ highest court has upheld an earlier judgement from the Amsterdam District Court that the move to cut flights at Schiphol was unlawful because it did not follow the internationally accepted “balanced approach” for managing noise pollution from aviation. The district court’s original decision had initially been overturned by the Dutch Court of Appeal leading to the Supreme Court case.

This latest twist in the long-running saga was welcomed by airlines and aviation bodies, which have taken legal action against the plan to “unilaterally” cut flights at Schiphol.

In a statement, Schiphol’s largest operator KLM said it “supports the Supreme Court’s clearly substantiated ruling”.

“KLM wants to continue to connect the Netherlands with the rest of the world in balance with the environment,” added the airline. “To this end, we have drawn up the cleaner, quieter and more fuel-efficient plan, which shows that the common goal of reducing noise pollution can be achieved without reducing the number of aircraft movements.”

What happens next will be largely down to the Netherlands’ new coalition government, which finally took office in early July after months of political wrangling following November’s election.

IATA’s director general Willie Walsh added: “We expect the new Dutch government will respect today’s decision and proceed to apply the balanced approach, which is also enshrined in EU law and international treaties, with the utmost care with regards to Schiphol.

“Furthermore, we hope any other government thinking of disregarding the balanced approach will take note of this decision. It is a proven and successful process and should not be ignored.”