Eindhoven Airport


Eindhoven Airport is an airport located west of Eindhoven in North Brabant, Netherlands. In terms of the number of served passengers it is the second largest airport in the Netherlands, with 6.2 million passengers in 2018. The airport is used by both civilian and military traffic.

History

Early years

The airport was founded in 1932 as a grass strip under the name Vliegveld Welschap. In 1939 the airfield was acquired for use by the Air Force, as concerns over a military conflict with Germany increased. The airfield was quickly captured by German forces during the Battle of the Netherlands and re-used by them under the name Fliegerhorst Eindhoven. The airfield was expanded and improved by the Germans, with three paved runways and numerous hangars and support buildings being constructed.
The airfield was captured by American paratroopers during Operation Market Garden. Damage to the airfield was repaired and the airfield was re-used as an Advanced Landing Ground by both US and British forces under the designation B-78.
The airfield was returned to the Royal Netherlands Air Force in 1952. It was home to crews flying the Republic F-84G Thunderjet, Republic F-84F Thunderstreak, Northrop NF-5A/B, and finally the General Dynamics F-16A/B Fighting Falcon. 316 Squadron flew the F-16 and was inactivated in April 1994.

Development since the 1980s

In 1984 a terminal building for civilian air traffic was constructed, based on a design of Leo de Bever. After the end of the Cold War, Eindhoven was transformed into a military transport base. Initially it was home to F27-300M Troopship aircraft. Over the years to come, Fokker 50, Fokker 60, McDonnell Douglas KDC-10, Lockheed C-130 Hercules and Gulfstream IV aircraft were stationed at the air base. The Fokker aircraft have been retired.
On 15 July 1996, a Belgian Air Force C-130H Hercules crashed at the airport – known as the Herculesramp. The plane caught fire and in the intense heat, 34 people died. As a result of communication problems within the emergency services the fire services were not aware that the C-130 carried many passengers, which likely caused more people to die than if the emergency services had known about this.
On the civilian side, the airport has continued to grow and is now the second-largest airport in the Netherlands. To accommodate this, in early 2012 work to further expand Eindhoven airport was started including the addition of a 120-room Tulip Inn Hotel.
On the 27th of May 2017, the Multi-Purpose building collapsed. It was a parking garage of Eindhoven Airport under construction. The cause of the collapse was a construction error. The floors were made of prefabricated concrete slabs, and the connection between the slabs did not meet safety requirements. They were simply not strong enough, and in combination with the heat on that day, a portion of the parking building fell. Nobody was injured or killed.
In October 2018, Ryanair announced it would be closing its base at the airport on 5 November 2018. Construction of a 4 star hotel by Holiday Inn was started in 2018 and is expected to open in 2019.

Facilities

Passenger facilities available include: exchange office, lost property office, luggage lockers, baby changing area, health centre and various shops, such as Rituals, AH to GO, Victoria's Secret and tax free shops: Travel Plaza and Travel luxury, and also new Business Lounge Aspire by Swissport
Furthermore, Eindhoven Airport offers a variety of restaurants, bars and cafes, such as: Upstairs, La Place, The Bar and Starbucks.
A business centre is available too. There are 1,500 parking spaces for long and short term parking.

Military

From 1 July 2007, Eindhoven has been the location of the Movement Coordination Centre Europe, a merger of the former European Airlift Centre, established by the European Air Group, and the Sea-lift Coordination Centre. MCCE is a non-NATO/non-European military organization. MCCE is an organization open to all governments whose membership is accepted by all the other participant nations, regulated by a specific legal technical agreement. The mission of the MCCE is to coordinate the use of air transport, surface transport and air-to-air refuelling capabilities between participating nations, and thereby improve the overall efficiency of the use of owned or leased assets of the national military organizations. The centre's main focus will be on strategic movements, but not exclude operational and tactical movements.
From September 2010 Eindhoven Airport has been hosting the European Air Transport Command, composed of seven European nations who share aerial military assets in a single operative command. EATC will play leading role on the A400M standardization process.

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

Ground transport

Eindhoven Airport is located just off the A2 motorway which offers direct connections to the North west, centre and south of the country, including the cities of Amsterdam, Utrecht and Maastricht. The airport is also served by two of Eindhoven's electric bus routes.