NOS
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 15:13
A report on an investigation into Schiphol and an alternative to downsizing will become public after all. KLM and trade organization Barin said this after last weekend de Volkskrant had released the contents of the report.
The airline, Barin and the airport had jointly commissioned a study into the government’s plan to shrink Schiphol. This showed that there is an alternative to reducing the number of flight movements: a higher air passenger tax.
All parties should have agreed to make this public, but the lobby club and KLM were against publication. The higher tax would also apply to transfer passengers and that group is very important for KLM. They have built a large part of their business model on transfers and are afraid that if the tax is introduced, they would look to other airports.
The tax would also be based on how far you fly. A flight to New York or Australia would then become considerably more expensive.
Threat
Emotions surrounding the report ran high. KLM would announce Schiphol’s CEO, Ruud Sondag, wanted to hold personally liable for all damage that the airline would suffer if a higher flight tax. That threat was withdrawn, but the report was not published publicly.
The report could have played a major role in the discussion about the shrinkage of Schiphol. Outgoing Minister Harbers wants a maximum of 452,000 flights to depart from the airport as soon as possible, instead of the currently permitted 500,000.
KLM and Barin believe that there are too many doubts about the calculation method and conclusions of the report. According to both, employment and the business climate are not taken into account. They believe that the negative effects are not properly presented.
The Ministry of Infrastructure will soon make the report public. Then, for example, the House of Representatives will also look at it.
2024-03-04 14:13:41
#KLM #tacks #alternative #public #shrinkage #Schiphol
