Minister Madlener: 10,000 possible flight movements at most for Lelystad Airport

Minister Barry Madlener from Infrastructure and Water Management is willing to investigate whether the total number of major air flights from Lelystad Airport can be limited to 10,000 per year.

The minister said this on Thursday night at a consultation on aviation in the House of Representatives. During that meeting, Schiphol was mainly discussed, but also about Lelystad Airport.

The Party for the Animals, GroenLinks/PvdA, NSC and D66 clearly expressed their opposition to the opening of Lelystad Airport for holiday flights. An airport should not be installed under any circumstances for additional growth, the parties believe.

BBB is also against it, although the party said a few weeks ago that it may reconsider its decision if new insights emerge. MP Cor Pierik said now that he does not know that new scenes will appear soon. PVV, VVD and Forum for Democracy were all for openness.

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The SGP is in between: the party doesn’t really want an opening, but MP Chris Stoffer explored the possibilities. He asked the minister if the number of aircraft movements could be limited to 10,000 per year, without growing to 45,000 over several years.

Minister Madlener replied that this is certainly possible, but this number must be registered in the so-called Airport Order. “But he can be sure,” Madlener said.

In the current plans, 10,000 aircraft movements are the maximum that can be done. Higher numbers require changes in the airspace by air traffic control.

Minister Madlener said that a recent study of Lelystad Airport shows that the airport can be operated profitably with 10,000 aircraft movements. In other words: can make a profit. “Ten thousand moves are enough for a viable business plan.”

The airport had previously stated that it would only be profitable with 20,000 to 25,000 aircraft movements. Because it seems that it is now done with less suspicion in the House. The BBB asked for a second opinion on these numbers.

A spokesperson for Lelystad Airport confirms to Omroep Flevoland that the airport has recently renewed the business case, as the previous one was ten years old. “This rebalancing has given us the insight that, among other things, newer aircraft types that can carry more passengers are causing black figures (with 10,000 aircraft movements).”

Private planes
During the discussion, the SGP also wanted to know if Lelystad Airport was able to take over the 17,000 movements with private jets from Schiphol. Then the new unused passenger building can be given a purpose.

The minister said he cannot implement this. It is up to Schiphol to figure out what should happen to the business jets. There is no legal reason for the airport to ban flights of this type.

If Schiphol itself had to reduce the number of flights, it would be a “logical idea” to move the business jets to Lelystad Airport.

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Minister Madlener confirmed his previous position that the cabinet will make a decision next year on holiday flights from Lelystad. That depends on nature’s permission and nitrogen emissions, but the Ministry of LVVN has to decide on this.

Another situation is that no aircraft will fly low over Gelderland and Overijssel near Lemelerveld for a long time. This problem can be solved by eliminating a route through Gelderland to Lemelerveld, but Madlener said that he has not made a choice about it yet.

The minister disputed reports that the runway at Lelystad Airport would be too short for holiday flights, as Follow the Money reported this week based on notes from officials. “That’s a persistent misconception: the runway has been extended and is perfectly suited for a Boeing 737 to fly to multiple holiday destinations.”