A Dutch court says the government has systematically put the interests of the aviation sector above those of people who live near Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport.

Appeals court judges in Amsterdam say the Dutch government can order Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s busiest aviation hubs, to reduce the number of flights from 500,000 per year to 460,000.

A judge has ruled that the Dutch government cannot order Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s busiest aviation hubs, to reduce the number of flights from 500,000 per year to 460,000.

A Dutch court has convicted three men of murder for their role in shooting down a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet with a Russian surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 people aboard, as the aircraft flew over a separatist-controlled region of eastern Ukraine in 2014.

The CEO of Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport has quit after a summer that descended into chaos and flight cancellations amid staff shortages in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport has launched a compensation program for travelers who missed their flights because of lengthy delays that have plagued the busy European hub for months.

British Airways says it’s suspending sales of short-haul flights from London’s Heathrow Airport for two weeks.

The Dutch government plans to cut the maximum number of flights allowed each year at the country’s busiest aviation hub, Schiphol Airport, in an attempt to reduce noise and air pollution.

After two years of pandemic restrictions, travel demand is back, but airlines and airports that slashed jobs during the depths of the COVID-19 crisis are struggling to keep up.

Britain’s Gatwick Airport has slashed its number of daily flights over the summer because of staff shortages.

Travelers beware: The Netherlands’ busiest airport is reining in flight departures over its busy summer period.

Prosecutors are explaining evidence and their indictment to judges in the murder trial of three Russians and a Ukrainian charged with involvement in downing Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014, killing all 298 passengers and crew.

Dutch military police have arrested a husband and wife who left a hotel where they were being quarantined after testing positive for COVID-19 and boarded a plane bound for Spain.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Saturday that holiday gatherings cant go ahead and non-essential shops must close in London and much of southern England. Germany said all flights coming from Britain, except cargo flights, were no longer allowed to land starting midnight Sunday. The Netherlands banned flights from the U.K. for at least the rest of the year. The World Health Organization tweeted late Saturday that it was "in close contact with U.K. officials on the new #COVID19 virus variant" and promised to update governments and the public as more is learned. “The alarms bells have been ringing for weeks, but the prime minister chose to ignore them,” said Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party.

The ban came into effect Sunday morning and the government said it was reacting to tougher measures imposed in London and surrounding areas on Saturday by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. “There’s no evidence to suggest it is more lethal or causes more severe illness,” the prime minister stressed, or that vaccines will be less effective against it. The Dutch government is already strongly advising its citizens not to travel unless absolutely necessary. Viruses mutate regularly, and scientists have found thousands different of mutations among samples of the virus causing COVID-19. But many of these changes have no effect on how easily the virus spreads or how severe symptoms are.

Judges and lawyers representing relatives of the 298 people killed are expected to discuss the issue of compensation. (Piroschka van de Wouw/Pool photo via AP)SCHIPHOL A lawyer for relatives of victims killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine in 2014 told trial judges Monday that the families want damages as a recognition of the injustice they suffered and told judges that Russian disinformation compounds their grief. Some families watched Schijns speak from a public gallery in the court on the edge of the airport from where the doomed flight took off. Prosecutors allege that the missile that downed flight MH17 was trucked into Ukraine from a Russian military base. In addition to the grief they face because of the loss of their dearest, they are additionally injured by Russias attitude, she told judges.

THE HAGUE Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport announced Friday that it will cut hundreds of jobs as it warned that air traffic likely will not return to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels until 2023-25. The airport said in a statement it will cut several hundred jobs from its total workforce of around 3,000 to reduce costs. Schiphol called in its statement for better international cooperation on measures to make air travel safe in the COVID-19 era. This impacts air travel, and therefore economic recovery, the airport said. Schiphol is in favor of a system of testing for travel to and from countries with an orange or red risk profile, the airport said.

In a move that could significantly delay the trial, Dutch lawyers representing Russian suspect Oleg Pulatov asked for clarifications and translations of evidence already produced by prosecutors and more investigations, including questioning more than 100 witnesses. She said lawyers have not been able to visit Pulatov because of coronavirus lockdown restrictions. After years of investigations by an international team, prosecutors last year named four suspects: Russians Igor Girkin, Sergey Dubinskiy and Pulatov as well as Ukrainian Leonid Kharchenko. None of them have appeared for their trial, which started in March and is still at a preliminary stage. Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis adjourned the case until Friday, when judges are expected to rule on the defense requests.

(AP Photo/Robin van Lonkhuijsen, POOL)SCHIPHOL SCHIPHOL, NetherlandsA defense lawyer for a suspect in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine nearly six years ago said Monday that coronavirus restrictions have seriously hampered efforts to prepare the case. She said that meant defense lawyers are not yet ready to make preliminary objections such as challenging the Dutch court's jurisdiction in the case. Judges and prosecutors did not immediately respond to the defense claims, which could lead to long delays in the trial that began on March 9. Coronavirus social distancing measures were in place in the courtroom, with judges and prosecutors separated from one another by glass screens. Russia has consistently denied any involvement in the downing of the flight known as MH17 and has criticized the international investigation.