The Dutch government's attempt to restrict the numbers of flights taking off and landing at Schiphol Airport could leave a €13.6bn hole in the country's economy,
The amount covers the value of trade and tourist expenditure in the Netherlands that could be lost if the curbs are imposed, according to a new study by the UK-based Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr).
The report was commissioned by the Red Schiphol Campaign, a group of "concerned Dutch citizens and businesses" who oppose the "440 decision" to limit flight movements at the airport to 440,000 a year.
The limits have also drawn opposition from a group of airlines, including KLM, which recently won a Dutch court case against the government over the proposed flight cap.
The Cebr analysis predicted that attempt to cut flights would lead to a 180,000 tonne drop in the amount of cargo handled at Schiphol compared to 2019 levels, up to €11.5bn worth of goods or about 11.4% of Schiphol's regular cargo volume.
The proposed cap could see in 1.3 million fewer tourists using Schiphol Airport each year, which the Cebr said would be "roughly equivalent to the total number of travellers who visited the Netherlands from Asia in 2019", and costing the country €2.2bn in lost tourist expenditure.