The judge annulled Schiphol’s nature permit on Wednesday. This led to many questions on NUjij. Will my flight vacation still go ahead? What does this mean for Lelystad Airport? National reporter Job van der Plicht answers the best and most frequently asked questions.
Will flights now be canceled? And what impact will that have on, for example, flight vacations that have already been booked?
“Don’t worry, your booked flight vacation can still go ahead for the time being. Although the court ruling means that Schiphol is in fact acting illegally, that does not mean that Schiphol’s doors will be closed tomorrow.”
“The environmental organizations that brought the lawsuit are not aiming for that either. They want fewer flights to depart from Schiphol, but not for Schiphol to close.”
“Now that Schiphol does not have a nature permit, an enforcement request can be submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Security. This will ask outgoing State Secretary Jean Rummenie whether he wants to take action against the illegal situation.”
“It is unlikely that Rummenie will do that. Former minister Christianne van der Wal previously refused to do so. The judge ruled on Wednesday that that rejection was justified at the time.”
“Mobilisation for the Environment (MOB) is one of the main parties that brought the lawsuit. MOB has indicated that it will wait and see what the outgoing cabinet and Schiphol will do.”
“If an enforcement request is still submitted to the ministry, it will take a considerable amount of time (and possibly a lawsuit) before this has any consequences for Schiphol.”
“Schiphol has already announced that it will apply for a new nature permit. The airport will also appeal the ruling to the Council of State. However, this does not mean that one can wait for the outcome of that.”
Does Schiphol have a chance of being granted a new nature permit with the current requirements?
“That is difficult to estimate. The judge was not only negative about the annulled nature permit. For example, the number of permitted flights at Schiphol was well substantiated.”
“The nature permit failed on nitrogen and that is a tricky point. The Ministry of Agriculture must better demonstrate that nature does not need ‘nitrogen space’ and that Schiphol may use it. The question is whether that will succeed, because many nature reserves are not in good condition. This is often due to a surplus of nitrogen.”
“If that does not succeed, a nature permit in which fewer aircraft are allowed to fly annually is an alternative for Schiphol that may succeed.”
How should you reduce nitrogen caused by air traffic to and from Schiphol from falling on nature reserves near the airport? Can that only be done by flying less?
“In principle, flying less is the solution, yes. But there are also alternatives conceivable. For example, with cleaner aircraft or innovations that capture nitrogen from aircraft. But the easiest solution at the moment is indeed flying less.”
Does this now also apply to Lelystad Airport, which must accommodate flights from Schiphol and has the same owner?
“No, not directly. Lelystad Airport is indeed also owned by Royal Schiphol Group. Schiphol wants Lelystad Airport to take over holiday flights from Schiphol. A separate nature permit has been applied for for this. But it is not certain that the government will also grant it. If that does happen, several action groups have already announced that they will go to court.”
“Incidentally, it is also not a foregone conclusion that passenger aircraft will actually fly from Lelystad Airport (apart from the nature permit). Several cabinets have considered the matter in recent years without making a decision.”
“There was also disagreement within the now outgoing cabinet about the airport in Flevoland.”
To compensate for nitrogen emissions, Schiphol bought out nine farmers, among other things. How can you use nitrogen space from farmers while the total nitrogen deposition must decrease?
“This is exactly why the judge annulled the permit. First, it must be demonstrated that nature does not need that space to improve.”
“Often it concerns nitrogen emissions that have been permitted, but are not always actually used. That also makes it a bit complicated: a paper reality versus an actual reality.”
“Because Schiphol does not have a nature permit now and is therefore officially not allowed to fly as much as it does now. But it does happen, so the nitrogen from aircraft still ends up in nature. While there are farmers who are allowed to emit more nitrogen on paper than they do, for example because they now have fewer animals.”
“Vulnerable nature does not improve if permitted nitrogen is no longer allowed to be emitted, while that was not happening anyway. Nature only benefits if less nitrogen is actually emitted.”