US carrier JetBlue has been denied slots at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport next summer as the Dutch government’s impending capacity restrictions are set to restrict flight capacity at the Netherlands hub.
Airport Coordination Netherlands (ACNL) said on Thursday (2 November) that airlines without historical rights to allocation at Schiphol airport will not be allocated slots for summer 2024. Meanwhile, those that have historically served the airport will receive 3.1 per cent fewer slots than before when the first stage of the capacity cuts begin, according to a Reuters report.
Schiphol is due to reduce the number of permitted flights from the current annual limit of 500,000 to 460,000 from 31 March 2024 when the Dutch government’s highly criticised experimental scheme to reduce noise pollution comes into effect.
A newcomer to Schiphol, JetBlue launched services from Amsterdam to New York and Boston in August and is among 24 airlines that were denied landing and takeoff rights for the upcoming summer season.
The US carrier in September filed a complaint with the US Department of Transportation (DOT) against the Netherlands and the European Union and requested that the DOT impose countermeasures on Dutch carrier KLM.
The carrier previously stated: “If the Dutch Government is allowed to effectively expel new entrant JetBlue from AMS without facing any consequential and proportional countermeasures from the Department, other governments may decide to follow suit.”
