Source : https://www.luchtvaartnieuws.nl/nieuws/categorie/3/airports/jubilerend-lelystad-airport-snakt-naar-duidelijkheid
Lelystad Airport and the companies located there want to be as quickly as possible clarity on whether or not the airport will open for vacation flights. The Cabinet won’t take a decision until 2024, but the continued postponement means the airport is at a standstill. That said several speakers Thursday during a meeting at the new terminal of Lelystad Airport.The airport gave here together with companies, farmers, and regional politics kicking off an anniversary year in which Lelystad Airport celebrates its 50th anniversary. The official birthday is only Nov. 19, but several events are planned throughout the year.
Grass track field
Lelystad Airport opened in 1973 as a grass runway field in the newly constructed eastern Flevoland. After the arrival of a paved track, it developed into a place for flight schools and small aviation. In 1993, Schiphol Group bought the airport for 1 guilders and wanted to turn it into an airport for business jets early this century. In 2009 cabinet and House of Representatives agreed to cabinet advisor Hans Alders’ plan to make Lelystad an overflow airport of Schiphol to serve the Amsterdam region. relief.An airport decision came into effect in 2015, but it had to be amended after activist groups found errors in noise and nitrogen calculations. After that, the opening for vacation flights was postponed several times. In 2024 to tie the knot, but due to the discussion about nitrogen and climate change and concerns about low flight paths over Gelderland and Overijssel, there is widespread opposition to the opening.
Ultimate dream
“Ultimately, my ultimate dream though is that the Dutch vacation travelers will come here from is going to leave and we are working very hard on that,” said Jan Eerkens, general manager of Lelystad Airport since August. Minister Mark Harbers links opening to two boundary conditions: Lelystad must have a nature permit and there must be a solutions are over a low flight path over Overijssel. According to Eerkens, there is progress in both cases. “We are going to accomplish that we have a nature permit. Before that, we bought three farms to make the to offset nitrogen emissions from the airport.” Those farms were purchased in Gelderland, much to the displeasure of the provincial government there. Eerkens confirmed that there were more nitrogen space than the airport needs for the 10,000 initially planned aircraft movements of wholesale traffic. The airport plans to offer the surplus to agricultural businesses in Gelderland or Flevoland, which previously submitted a so-called PAS notification had requested. It was invalidated by the State Council in 2019.
With the low flight path in the minister’s hands, Eerkens said. “We call it a approach route at Lemelerveld. There, planes fly at 1.8 kilometers, for which a plan should be put in place to put those up. There, the ministry joined with Air Traffic Control the Netherlands (LVNL) is working hard on it,” Eerkens said. Minister Harbers and his predecessor Cora van Nieuwenhuizen previously said that putting the route higher over this part of Overijssel as far as Zwolle was not possible, because traffic towards Schiphol passes. An LVNL employee said when asked that a solution is being worked on worked, but there is good hope that this will succeed.
No decisions
“All cabinets until today have Lelystad in the coalition agreement. The province, municipality and businesses have invested. Current users also say: give me now that clarity. Everyone needs that clarity,” Jan Eerkens said. This was confirmed by Luuk van Hooijdonk of flight company Wings over Holland, which is celebrating 40 years this year sits at Lelystad Airport. The company cannot make investment decisions while the politics has not tied the knot over the vacation airport. “It lies still. Important is that a decision be made as to which way it will go. We stand as a company but also as airport at a T-junction. We can’t turn left, we can’t turn right, we don’t know what’s going to happen. Deep in my heart I hope that big aviation does not come, but if it does there comes I’d rather know today than tomorrow.”
Van Hooijdonk fears that an active flight school will eventually have no place if the Boeings and Airbuses are coming. “That won’t happen right away at 10,000 moves, but eventually at 45,000 movements, not much is left for small aviation. So you will have to change with it. I could move the flight school out to another airport, Teuge for example, which does allow me to keep doing those moves. But that takes preparation. But I can’t do anything, because if politics decides it won’t open, then of course I’m not going to do that.”
