Groningen Airport Eelde


Groningen Airport Eelde is a minor international airport in the northeastern Netherlands. It is located near Eelde in the Province of Drenthe, south of the City of Groningen in the Province of Groningen. In 2015, the airport handled 220,710 passengers. The airport is also the home base of the KLM Flight Academy, Noord Nederlandse Aero Club and General Enterprises.
The airport started under the name "Hakenkampsveld" in 1928 and was officially opened in 1931. It was renamed "Luchthaven Eelde" in 1933. During World War II, the German military occupied the airport. Since 1958, there have been European destinations from the airport. Since 1988, the airport has been called Groningen Airport Eelde.

History

1920s–1930s: The First Years

Groningen Airport Eelde's history can be traced back to 1927, when Hayo Hindriks, an ex-alderman of the municipality Eelde, approached the KLM. He knew that the KLM would be interested in an air link between Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Groningen.
On July 13, 1928, the community's council agreed on a proposal to allocate 'Hakenkampsveld', a 12 hectare terrain within the municipality of Eelde, as an airport. The airport was officially opened by mayor Jan Gerard Legro on May 23, 1931. 40,000 visitors watched the air show, which was held to celebrate the opening. On August 15 of the same year the first scheduled service between Eelde and Amsterdam/Schiphol started, which did not appear to be viable.
In 1933, the airport's name was changed to "NV Luchthaven Eelde". Stockholders were the provinces of Groningen and Drenthe, the municipalities of Groningen, Eelde and Assen and the Chambers of Commerce and Factories for Groningen, Drenthe and the peat-colonies. Now there was money to expand the airport. At that time the airport's area covered 12 hectares. A new service between the airport and Amsterdam/Schiphol was set up.

1940s: In and after World War II

During World War II, between 1940 and 1945, the airport was occupied by the German military. However, its hangars were completely destroyed by Dutch soldiers, when they retreated from the militarily superior invaders. The occupation was a severe blow to the airport's promising expectations, but the airport played an important role in the war. During the occupation, the airport was expanded considerably by the Germans. Many hangars were built and the apron was expanded to accommodate fighter aircraft.
Early 1945, the Germans abandoned their "Fliegerhorst". During the German retreat, a member of the local resistance, W.W. Krijthe, prevented the airport from being blown up, by cutting the explosives' ignition wires. In the summer of 1945 Canadian soldiers used the airport to store vehicles of the 5th Canadian Division.
The Canadians called the site "Finitocamp".
The airfield returned to the hands of the NV Luchtvaartterrein Noord-Nederland. The national government shouldered most of the cost of restoring the damaged drainage system in the airfield. The government subsidized further developments at the airport so that it could meet international standards and remain registered for aviation.
The airport was appointed as an alternative airport for flights bound for Amsterdam/Schiphol, in 1948. To cater for these deviating aircraft, a new base plan had to be designed for the levelling and drainage of the runways, taxiways and apron. The new runways were finally ready for service in 1953, making the site an official aerodrome.

1950s

On August 16, 1954, the Rijksluchtvaartschool – or National Aviation Academy in English – moved to the airport from Gilze-Rijen. The KLM would acquire ownership of the RLS in 1991, becoming the KLM Flight Academy. In the course of the next two years after 1954, a flight theory school, the secondary and final flight education as well as other branches transferred to Eelde, making the airport an important aviation training site.
In 1956, the airport was renamed as "Luchthaven Eelde NV". The official opening of the airport building complex took place the following year on May 15, by Prince Bernard.
The first landing of a European aeroplane took place on July 13, 1958. Twelve passengers boarded the aircraft, making a trip to Mallorca for a fourteen day vacation. In the same year, a new air traffic control tower was put into use.

1960s–1970s

During the 1960s, the scheduled services were restored, initially, national flights operated by NLM. The airfield was seen to have the potential to operate usefully as a regional airport and to play a role in the infrastructure of the northern part of the Netherlands. The Study Committee for the Development of Eelde Airport was established. The committee suggested taking a closer look at regional airports in other countries and seeing how they had developed. Eelde airport seemed to be a key part of a larger system of infrastructure in the region. Another finding was that aircraft noise was a bigger problem at Eelde than at similar airports. Therefore, a noise pollution committee was established.
In 1977, a new passenger terminal opened and more parking space for cars was constructed. Adding to this, a bus link to the city of Groningen was established, improving the airport's accessibility. Work started to expand the apron and add a hangar. In the same year, the Dutch ministry of infrastructure and the environment published the Structural Plan for Civil Aerodromes. This plan stated that an expansion of the main runway by 500 metres should be taken into account. This would make flights of all aircraft types possible.

1980s–1990s

From 1979 to 1982, the buildings housing the State Aviation Service and the meteorological service were modernised. A new air traffic control tower was constructed.
The aerodrome's name was changed once again in 1988, becoming officially "Groningen Airport Eelde NV". This was decided because the airport's international significance had steadily increased over the years.
With the airport becoming more crowded due to holiday flights, it was decided to join the two existing passenger halls together. This created a single departure hall capable of holding 200 passengers. The merge also resulted in an arrivals hall with a conveyor belt. A new car park was added as well. Groningen Airport Eelde received a sum of 2.5 million guilders for a new passage hall. This sum was donated by the European support fund ISP, which was granted by the province of Drenthe. This would finance almost one-third of the costs of the new hall.
In 1997, the Dutch government planned to stop financial support to most regional airports. Despite this, the airport was still entitled to 25 million guilders for the expansion of its main runway. On November 12, 1999, the government agreed with the proposal to extend the runway, provided that the flying of training circuits by large aircraft be terminated.

2000s–2010s

In April 2000, the majority of the Dutch parliament had no objection against the runway extension, but due to changing environmental legislation and civil objection procedures, it would take 12 more years until the project was actually started.
Ryanair started a scheduled service to its London Stansted base in 2003. This service attracted many passengers to the airport. However, this service did not last long; Ryanair terminated the service in May 2004. One reason for this was the limited length of the main runway, limiting the aircraft's effective range and maximum load.
Finally, the province's State of Council gave the final go-ahead for the runway extension on February 15, 2012. Ryanair announced three new routes, returning to the airport after eight years. The extended runway was put into service on April 24, 2013. However, once again Ryanair did not operate from Eelde for long, the last flight being in November 2014.
In June 2014, UK low-cost carrier Flybe commenced a new year-round service to London-Southend. From March 2018 this service was greatly expanded, from six to 18 flights per week.
On 19 September 2016, Nordica started operating two flights a day between Groningen and Copenhagen. In November 2018, Nordica announced it would close its base in Groningen by December, shutting down the year-round routes to Copenhagen an Munich as well as seasonal services to Ibiza and Nice.
On 4 March 2019, flights to Copenhagen resumed, now carried out by AIS Airlines with 19-seat BAe Jetstream 32 aircraft.

Runways

Groningen Airport Eelde has two asphalt paved runways. Runway 05/23 measures, which has recently been extended from 1,800 meters. Runway 01/19 is shorter, measuring. Only runway 23 has a DME/ILS.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate services to/from Groningen Airport:

Statistics

Top destinations

RankDestinationsFrequency
Airline
1 London 10BE
2 Copenhagen10IS
3 Münster10IS
4 Gran Canaria2OR

RankDestinationsFrequency
Airline
1 London 10BE
2 Copenhagen10IS
3 Heraklion4HV
4 Gran Canaria2OR

Annual passenger and aircraft movements

From CBS Statistics Netherlands and annual reports Groningen Airport Eelde
YearAircraft movements Passengers Passengers
199785,78183,151
199888,980 114,160 113,119
199981,879 90,168 110,059
200069,054 78,266 112,367
200161,324 94,220 132,155
200267,783 107,466 148,291
200354,890 137,607 177,851
200443,146 119,218 155,534
200544,925 122,794 162,875
200654,843 129,012 166,240
200759,406 135,726 172,458
200861,322 148,949 190,034
200965,617 136,044 167,107
201063,866 122,659 153,637
201152,774 114,327 148,850
201246,418 180,812 208,669
201343,836 176,212 201,721
201438,951 169,369 199,646
201523,456 180,879 220,710
201624,746 152,451 180,399
201727,005 201,786 227,982
201821,694 228,698 241,737

Ground transportation

Car

Groningen Airport Eelde is accessible by car using exit 37 of the Motorway A28.

Bicycle

Separated bicycle infrastructure exists almost the entire way from the City of Groningen to Groningen Airport Eelde using either the Groningerweg/Hoofdweg or the bicycle paths parallel to the A28/E232 motorway.

Public transport

The closest major railway stations are in Assen and Groningen.
Buses connect the airport with Groningen. A bus connection to Assen is possible with a change in De Punt.