Supreme court scraps Lelystad airport expansion plans

The Supreme Court on Wednesday tore up government plans to expand Lelystad airport, saying the refusal to agree flight paths in advance is particularly problematic.


The government said in 2009 it wanted to expand the small regional airport outside the new town to take bigger planes and to focus more on business travellers. Eventually European charter flights would also be shifted to the polder airport.
Towns around Lelystad and farming organisations protested against the plans, saying they contravened airport legislation.
The court said ministers’ refusal to set down flight paths gave rise to too much uncertainty for surrounding farms and made it impossible to assess the environmental affect of the expansion.
According to the Volkskrant, the court rejected other expansion plans in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation