Schiphol airport in the Netherlands has revealed ambitious plans to reduce noise and air pollution so that its operations can expand, the Dutch newspaper Financiele Dagblad reported on Oct. 9.

One of the measures is to build dozens of pyramids around Schiphol's new runway. They are to be constructed in such a way that the wind can blow through them but they will still deaden the roar from aircraft by 10 decibels, which is a substantial reduction, said the newspaper.

Eight initiators, including Netherlands's largest carrier KLM, and research organizations, presented their plan to make Schiphol the world's most sustainable and innovative airport on Oct. 8.

The plans contain a number of futuristic ideas such as train stations throughout the largest cities where passengers can check in their luggage, planes which approach the airport without using their engines, new aircraft with low fuel consumption and even a magic anti-noise cabinet.

The cabinet would be placed in people's houses and emit a certain type of noise that will deaden the noise from an aircraft every time a plane flies over.

All these measures taken together are intended to yield a reduction of one-fifth in the volume of noise pollution and carbon dioxide emissions from ground vehicles at the airport within four years. They should result in a 10 percent reduction in emissions of harmful gases for each passenger kilometer.

However, experts have serious doubts about the feasibility of the new methods. The newspaper quoted noise experts as saying that the pyramids would not be able to achieve as much as claimed.

Schiphol, Europe's fourth largest airport, plans to achieve 20 percent growth during the coming years. Expansion of its operations are only possible if the noise and environmental pollution created by the airport can be reduced.