There were 13 percent more passengers travelling through Groningen Aiport Eelde in 2018 than 2017, which is in line with a nationwide trend of rising air travel numbers.
Translation by Thomas Ansell
Groningen Aiport Eelde (located in Drenthe) has seen its passenger numbers rise, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). The figures also show that fewer practise flights are happening in the northern Netherlands. In 2018, Groningen Airport Eelde saw around 12,000 movements (each take-off and landing is counted separately), which was down from more than 50,000 in 2009. Groningen Airport Eelde is the home for the KLM Flight Academy.
Groningen Airport Eelde suffered a blow recently as Nordica decided to end flights to Copenhagen and Munich, but Dutch airline AIS took over operating the Copenhagen flights, primarily used by business travellers, in early March. A second blow came as The Royal Schiphol Group decided against investing in the airport. The airport currently runs three daily flights to London Southend, but Eelde will be cutting back the number of daily flights by British airline Flybe (who are facing financial troubles of their own) from 18 to 11 starting on 1 April. The airport also offers flights to holiday destinations during the summer months.
The future of the airport is also dependent on the recently appointed left wing coalition in the municipality of Groningen, and a number of local government shareholders have been reconsidering their financial support of GAE.
Commercial airports
RTV Drenthe reports that every commercial airport in the Netherlands experienced growing passenger numbers over the past year: Maastricht Aachen Airport saw passenger figures rise by a whopping 64 percent. The booming numbers in Maastricht are attributed to Ryanair and Corendon actively developing their business activities at the airport.
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the largest in the Netherlands, saw its overall number of passengers rise by 3.7 percent. The numbers have also revealed a steep rise in the number of journeys made from Hoogeveen Airfield, which is mainly used for private aviation. In 2018, it saw a 35 percent rise in journeys compared to the previous year.