The measures taken by Eindhoven Airport to reduce noise pollution and emit less CO2 have not gone down well with local residents and climate protesters from Extinction Rebellion. They are not impressed and do not rule out further protests at the airport. “Cutting 1,000 out of 41,500 flights is, of course, a greenwash”, the group said.
Stopping private flights in two years and doing a thousand fewer flights a year. These are measures Eindhoven Airport is taking to make less noise and reduce emissions. “It means there are still 40,500 flight movements a year in a climate crisis that is increasingly disruptive. The cancellation of private flights in 2026 sounds very nice, but it means that there can thus be exorbitant pollution for over 2 more years”, Hester op de Laak of Extinction Rebellion informs.
Bernard Gerard of Milieudefensie (environment defense) thinks the new measures are a first step, but is not impressed. “Eindhoven Airport actually already could not reach 41,500 flights per year, then they would violate the laws of nature. That 40,500 is according to our calculations what they are already using now. So that number is actually more symbolic”.
Local residents
For local residents, according to Willem van den Brink of the Woensel-Noord residents’ platform, much remains unclear. Namely, he wants to know which flights will be removed. “Because we experience the most nuisance between seven and eight in the morning and after nine in the evening. I prefer a maximum number of flights per day, rather than per year. In the warm summer months, we want to enjoy being outside”, he told Omroep Brabant.
Something Van den Brink says is impossible due to the number of vacation flights. “This is a step in the right direction. But for now, on days like Pentecost and Ascension for example, we still have a lot of trouble from planes”.
Cleaner aircraft
Eindhoven Airport wants to allow “only the newest generation of planes” from 2030. In other words, aircraft that should be a lot cleaner and quieter. Furthermore, the airport says it wants to work on cleaner fuel for the planes so that CO2 emissions can be reduced. “They really should already be doing this. It is actually already a regulation in place now. So this is not that special”, Gerard said.
Director at Eindhoven Airport, Roel Hellemons, is pleased with the package of measures. “Making aviation more sustainable within Europe is ambitious and achievable. We are showing by taking these additional measures that we are really accelerating”.
In any case, Extinction Rebellion will continue their protests. “It is not a question of IF we are going to continue protesting at Eindhoven airport but when. As long as they are poisoning our environment and driving the climate crisis, we have no other choice”, Op de Laak concludes.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
