Minor inconveniences from the airport can be achieved through participation

Yesterday, the residents of the airport had a picnic, also to express their dissatisfaction with the inconveniences of air traffic

SCHIEDAM – The Interim Participation Package (VPP), in which the common ideas are determined by twelve parties participating in discussions about the future of Rotterdam Airport, has a number of concrete provisions that also aim to reduce the inconvenience caused by airports. They will be presented to the residents next Monday during a consultation evening.

VPP deals with a wide range of aspects of airport operations. This may form the basis for a new permit (the Aviation Order), which the Minister must grant. It lays down the rules for the airport.

Minor inconvenience to residents living near the airport was the commitment of the Schiedam residents’ representative in the consultation, John Witjes, he told Schiedam24. Despite his principled objections to more air traffic in the immediate vicinity (‘as far as the airport closes tomorrow’), he has worked with the other representatives on a comprehensive package of measures that will especially reduce early morning flights and late flights. minor inconveniences. In addition, if a sharp growth in the number of planes landing and taking off at ‘Zestienhoven’ can be averted, they should be able to reduce the inconveniences experienced by the people of Schiedam, e.g.

As the first example of such a measure that has been agreed, Witjes mentions a point that is rejected by some as a Pyrrhic victory. The Schiedam resident representative disagrees. For example, it has been agreed that it is no longer allowed to land early in the morning and take off late in the evening. Huh, a local resident would say: it only saves a few flights, that’s not the problem. Witjes: “There are very few landing flights early in the morning and departures late in the evening, but there are more and more. For example, there is a plane that takes off from Brussels twice a week at seven in the morning to fly to Morocco, but first flies to Rotterdam to pick up some extra passengers. The plane lands here at 7:30. But it is, of course, a completely meaningless act. ” But according to Witjes, a company that wants to fill its schedule in this way is within its rights. “The distribution of slots is a state thing.” If you have these landing rights, you can use them as you wish and neither can the airport deny you. VPP states that in the future it will not be possible to land before half past eight and take off after nine in the evening. That prevents early flights from Brussels. “

A surplus point for those struggling for a quiet living environment at the airport. No matter how small. So there are more. “In the morning, there are quite often takeoffs in two directions, for example three flights to Lansingerland and three to Schiedam. This package now includes that if there is a little wind, the six take off in one direction. “The idea is that it does not matter if you as a resident are woken by three or six planes, while the people in the other starting direction can wake up peacefully that day.

Another point that Witjes is happy with is the number of slots that can be wagered. “It is envisaged that in the new decree no more planes will depart between thirty and fifty-seven than in 2019.” Exactly how it will work is not yet clear. “But that means that in the future it will not be possible to fly more in the morning and evening peaks than say the two takeoffs and ten landings in the summer of 2019. Which, incidentally, still gives a lot of noise to Wehl.”

But there are still plenty of annoyances for Witjes. Take the so-called position flights needed to get planes to the place where the passengers board. A plane that was forced to land at Schiphol at night because it arrived late flew empty to Rotterdam in the morning. “And come here at half past six to wake the people.” Would it not be better, Witjes wonders, to allow landing at Rotterdam after one o’clock in the morning – according to VPP also not possible in the future – after all? It saves kilometers and petroleum, the cost of deploying buses to drive people back to Rotterdam at night, emissions. “And it is a given that if you wake up in the middle of the night, you will fall asleep faster than if you wake up early in the morning.”

The plane that brought Feyenoord to Marseille was one of them. “That charter landed here at ten past six in the morning, we are already landing. Of course, that could also have been possible later, because the team only went much later. A position flight is now allowed to land between 6 and 7, so because Feyenoord had to play football, we woke up here at half past six. “

Along with delayed flights, the airlines receive penalty points in the airport decree – according to VPP – for position flights that land before seven o’clock in the morning.

Another point in VPP is that there will be more enforcement points. “The imaginary enforcement site is located on Weide 12 in Kethel-East – I do not think the resident even knows that yet. It is a calculated point because the measuring equipment is two hundred meters away, on Nachtegaallaan.” Witjes also does not know why this method was chosen. “But perhaps more logical than there is to look at a point like Degerfors. There is roughly the intersection between rising and falling, and the noise exposure is maximum.” Measurements are also desirable further ahead on the northern outskirts of the city, Witjes says.

Witjes will explain all proposals made in VPP on Monday during a residents’ evening at the municipal office. See also this article.