CEO Lelystad Airport: Jan Eerkens

Lelystad Airport has played a central role in the aviation industry for over 50 years. As the largest General Aviation airport in the Netherlands, we currently facilitate around 80,000 aircraft movements per year. What is sometimes overlooked is the bustling activity that has been taking place here for many years. If you visit the airport, you will see that on busy days, there are between 350-450 aircraft movements, and many employees find their way to one of the forty-five businesses at the airport. Many times, people speak of an ‘opening’. Lelystad Airport has been in use for many years and the airport can play a role in taking over flights from Schiphol, this will help Schiphol and its local residents reduce noise nuisance. We would like to see these flights depart from Lelystad Airport.

On the way to the arrival of holiday/leisure air traffic

After the fall of the cabinet in the summer of 2023, a decision to put the passenger terminal into use and the arrival of holiday/leisure air traffic has been declared controversial. This means that a decision will be made by a new political cabinet.

There has been little change for Lelystad Airport. We are working on the two conditions that (caretaker) Minister Harbers outlined in the parliamentary letter of June 2022. These conditions must be met at the time of making a decision regarding the arrival of holiday/leisure air traffic at Lelystad Airport. These are the following two conditions:

1.obtaining the nature permit;
2.finding a solution for the approach route to Lelystad Airport near Lemelerveld.

The updated permit application for the nature permit was submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality on December 5, 2023.

A solution was presented in December 2023 to fulfill condition 2. LVNL (Air Traffic Control the Netherlands) indicates that it is possible to keep sector 3, an approach route to the airport, out of use for future holiday/leisure air traffic. This resolves the last part of the route where flying horizontally at 1800 meters would occur. Such a solution is not necessary for the other routes, as these connecting routes to the international network are already planned at higher altitudes.

Once the nature permit is granted, the first condition is also fulfilled. This means that a decision can then be made regarding the arrival of holiday/leisure air traffic at Lelystad Airport.

Lelystad Airport is important for the Dutch airport system, Dutch accessibility, and Dutch travelers. Therefore, we would like a new cabinet to provide clarity on the future of Lelystad Airport as soon as possible.

Good contact with the environment

Lelystad Airport has a good relationship with its surroundings and immediate neighbors. We closely collaborate with a number of farmers united in the foundation De Lelystadse Boer. They maintain the grass on the airport grounds and will supply the catering and shops in the passenger terminal with local products and ingredients.

Once Lelystad Airport is allowed to handle holiday/leisure air traffic, we will provide an economic boost to Lelystad and Flevoland.

At the same time, we help (the residents near) Schiphol to limit the nuisance by taking over flights. These will be flights operated during the day at our airport. We make it clear to our surroundings that the airport is not open at night.

Both the local and provincial governments are counting on a positive decision due to the additional job opportunities and educational possibilities. Of course, there are also people who are critical of aviation. This is inevitable, but we engage in conversations with everyone, including critics.

We are ready to become the new holiday airport of the Netherlands

Developing a General Aviation field into an airport for holiday/leisure air traffic is a large and complex project. This is what Lelystad Airport started in 2016 after ‘het Luchthavenbesluit’ was made in 2015. In addition to the infrastructure, the organization has also undergone significant changes. The entire team and various partners have worked hard for this, and this commitment and drive are still present. The passenger terminal has been set up, and visitors are always amazed when they see how complete it is.

We are prepared for holiday/leisure air traffic. For this, we have raised the control tower, where Air Traffic Control the Netherlands (LVNL) has been operating since November 2019. We also extended the runway and constructed a passenger terminal. The new terminal was built to be as sustainably as possible and has LEED Gold certification. The building is well insulated, minimising energy consumption. Areas where passengers spend only a short time, such as the entrance hall and baggage reclaim, are not climate-controlled. The climate system operates only at security, in the lounge, and the waiting area at the gate. A heat pump has been installed for cooling and heating. The terminal has no gas connection.