More than a dozen airlines and other stakeholders have said they will continue to fight the Dutch government’s decision to introduce limits at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS).
The announcement was made by KLM, part of the Air France-KLM Group, on July 25, 2023.
“Numerous airlines will institute cassation proceedings against the judgement of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal regarding the proposed implementation of a temporary experimentation rule,” the statement read. Joining the cassation proceedings were KLM Group (KLM and KLM Cityhopper, Transavia, and Martinair), Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, JetBlue, easyJet, Corendon, and TUI.
Several industry associations, including the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Airlines for America (A4A), Airlines for Europe (A4E), Board of airline representatives in the Netherlands (BARIN), Air Cargo Netherlands (CAN), and the European Regions Airline Association (ERA), have also joined the proceedings.
“The current judgement by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal creates a lack of clarity and causes uncertainty for passengers and the aviation sector,” the statement continued.
Airlines and associations said they lack clarity on how the experimental scheme will be applied, enforced, and lastly, how it will affect the number of flight movements at AMS.
“Moreover, the judgement conflicts with national, European and international regulations. It is in the interests of all parties to obtain clarity,” the statement concluded.
According to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands (De Hoge Raad), “cassation is a check on the quality of contested judgments given by the courts of appeal as regards both the application of law and the legal reasoning behind it”.
Earlier in July 2023, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal sided with the Dutch government, which wanted to reduce the annual flight movements from and to AMS from 500,000 to 440,000. The decision was contested by the same airlines and associations that are now taking the Amsterdam Court of Appeal through the cassation proceedings.
Following the appeal court ruling, KLM announced that it was “disappointed” with the decision and was “studying it”.