KLM has welcomed a decision by airport operator Royal Schiphol Group to increase slot capacity at its Amsterdam hub next summer.
Schiphol says there is room for 483,000 flights at the Amsterdam airport across 2024 – an increase on the roughly 433,000 flights that will operate this year and the 460,000 originally slated for next year.
That includes 293,000 flights during the summer season. However, Schiphol says that is conditional on there being some relief at peak times.
The new slot levels come after the Dutch government last month suspended its “experimental scheme” under which capacity was to be capped at the airport as part of efforts to reduce noise around Schiphol. That plan envisaged operation of just over 280,000 flights in summer 2024, in line with meeting an annual level of 460,000 flights.
It also comes after the Amsterdam airport faced significant operational challenges during the ramp up of air travel in 2022, which necessitated capping the number of flights movements to ensure reliability of service.
Royal Schiphol Group executive director operations, Patricia Vitalis, says: “At the request of the minister, we reviewed what was operationally possible after the experimental scheme was taken off the table. More flights are now possible, but this is only safe and responsible provided we reduce pressure on certain peak hours.
”The busy peak times require a major effort from the entire aviation sector and the involved government partners. In order to offer travellers a pleasant and safe journey, we really need each other at the airport.
”We’ve discussed this with each other a lot over the past weeks, and everyone is aware of that. It’s good to see that airlines have committed to helping reduce peak traffic.”
KLM says the decision will make it possible for it to continue its recovery after the pandemic.
”We are pleased about this,” the Dutch carrier says. ”Stable, predictable operations are vital for customers and employees, who understandably expect this from us.
“We now have scarcely three months to make the necessary arrangements instead of the usual six. KLM will obviously do everything possible to operate the number of flights it has been allocated.”
Plans to reduce flights from Schiphol next summer were suspended by the Dutch government after pressure from the European Commission and US Department of Transportation, in addition to airlines, amid concerns the new scheme may violate Open Skies agreements.
Airlines argued any adaption of slot levels at Schiphol to reduce noise needed to follow the agreed “Balanced Approach” where different mitigating options are considered before any reduction in slots.
