Recently it was revealed which companies are most frequently mentioned in the Second Chamber of Parliament. Not surprisingly, Schiphol was undisputedly number 1 of the top 100 with Lelystad Airport at number 10 and KLM at 11. In comparison, the Port of Rotterdam was to be found at number 45. This suggests that air transport is a lively topic in politics unfortunately, though, all too often in a negative sense.

Since the slot shortage at Schiphol arose in the summer of 2017, air cargo has been on the minds of Parliamentarians and most especially, the position of cargo flights. The first important result of the cargo sector’s lobbying occurred last month when the Local Rule for cargo flights at Schiphol was finally approved. However barely a week later, the sector was confronted with a setback: a possible levy on cargo flights based on the Maximum Take Off Weight of the aircraft (MTOW). The tariff will be € 3.85 per tonne cargo for the relatively older aircraft (747-400F and 777F) and € 1.925 per tonne cargo for newer aircraft (747/8F). This tariff will exceed the airport fees paid for these flights. I.e. the tax is more than 100% of user costs, this whilst other modes of transport are being subsidised.

Read the full article in Cargo Magazine on page 14

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