The Dutch cabinet agreed on Friday to move forward with the long-awaited flotation of the group which operates Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, one of Europe's busiest, in a move which should allow future growth.

The Dutch government, which owns 75.8 percent of Schiphol Group, will float a minority stake to investors at a "financially opportune time". It hopes to complete the initial public offering (IPO) before the end of its term in early 2007, a spokesman for the finance ministry said.

"To ensure that Schiphol does not get left behind and so hurt the Dutch economy, the cabinet has decided to go ahead with the sale of a minority share and a flotation for Schiphol," the government said in a statement.

Schiphol's move towards privatization has been a bumpy one since the government first raised the idea in 1997 and may still face some obstacles when parliament starts debating the issue later this year or in early 2005.

The group's management has repeatedly called for the state's go-ahead for an IPO, seeing a bourse listing as key to its international expansion.

"An application for a stock market quotation is necessary to effectively execute our strategy in order to strengthen our position as a major airline hub. Thanks to it we will have the same opportunities as our competitors in Europe," Schiphol Chief Executive Gerlach Cerfontaine said in a statement.