NSC and BBB stand firm and remain against the opening of Lelystad Airport to commercial traffic

In January, NSC and BBB helped a proposal from the Party for the Animals gain a majority. The proposal was then supported by other parties on the left, but also by NSC, CDA and BBB. That was before the new PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB cabinet had taken office.

Respect the decision of the House

The new cabinet did not make a decision about the opening of Lelystad Airport. The government program says that a final decision will be made in 2025. The coalition parties PVV and VVD want to open the airport.

But the other two coalition parties, NSC and BBB, are maintaining their position, as was revealed during a debate in the House of Representatives this evening. NSC MP Olger van Dijk says in response to questions from the PvdD that he accepts that the cabinet will respect the decision of the House of Representatives not to open the airport to commercial air traffic.

BBB MP Cor Pierik also said tonight that he has not changed his mind in the meantime.

Lelystad Airport was named years ago as a backup to Schiphol. Holiday flights eventually had to move to the airport in the Flevopolder, which underwent a major and expensive renovation.

Reduced support

This intervention was intended to allow Schiphol to focus on its role as a major international aviation hub. Since then, however, social and political support for growth in the aviation sector has declined significantly. There has been no majority in favor of opening Lelystad Airport for some time, but a final decision was yet to be made.

After the fall of the cabinet last July, Lelystad Airport came again on the list of topics that the House wanted to ‘park’ until after the new cabinet took office. Despite this, a motion on this issue was voted on and passed at the end of January.