Saturday saw the very first flight from Groningen Airport Eelde to the French city of Nice and another redirected flight due to strikes in France.
Translation by Traci White
Groningen Airport Eelde is planning to offer daily flights to Nice, either direct or with a transfer in Munster, until at least 6 October. Bowy Odink, the commercial director of the airport, told RTV Noord that he was well pleased about the first flight to Nice, a destination unto itself and a convenient location for travelers to explore the rest of the region.
The flight, which is carried out on a CRJ700 with room for 70 passengers, is operated by Nordica in partnership with LOT, a Polish airline. Nordica also has services to Copenhagen, Munich and Ibiza, but the returning Ibiza flight to Groningen on Saturday had to be redirected to Munster due to delays caused by a strike among air traffic controllers in France.
It was the second returning flight from Ibiza in recent months that was redirected because of the strikes: in early May, an Eelde-bound aircraft had to land at Schiphol after being delayed. Eelde is a regional airport and is legally required to close at 11 p.m. to most flights, but the airport is currently campaigning to be able to operate longer hours, including ten extra departing or incoming flights after 11 p.m.
