Eindhoven Airport is an airport located west of

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. In terms of the number of served passengers it is the second largest airport in the Netherlands, with 6.2 million passengers in 2018 (well behind

Schiphol Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...

, which serves more than 70 million passengers). The airport is used by both civilian and military traffic.

History

Early years

The airport was founded in 1932 as a grass strip under the name ''Vliegveld Welschap'' (''Welschap Airfield''). In 1939 the airfield was acquired for use by the Air Force, as concerns over a military conflict with Germany increased. The airfield was quickly captured by German forces during the

Battle of the Netherlands The German invasion of the Netherlands ( nl, Duitse aanval op Nederland), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands ( nl, Slag om Nederland), was a military campaign part of Battle of France, Case Yellow (german: Fall Gelb), the Nazi Ge ...

and re-used by them under the name ''Fliegerhorst Eindhoven''. The airfield was expanded and improved by the Germans, with three paved runways and numerous hangars and support buildings being constructed. The airfield was captured by American

paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...

s during

Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...

. Damage to the airfield was repaired and the airfield was re-used as an

Advanced Landing Ground Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) were temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II during the liberation of Europe. They were built in the UK prior to the invasion and thereafter in northwest Europe from 6 June 19 ...

by both US and British forces under the designation B-78. The airfield was returned to the

Royal Netherlands Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = ''Parade March of the Royal Netherlands Air Force'' , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment ...

in 1952. It was home to crews flying the Republic F-84G Thunderjet,

Republic F-84F Thunderstreak The Republic F-84F Thunderstreak was an American swept-wing turbojet fighter-bomber. While an evolutionary development of the straight-wing F-84 Thunderjet, the F-84F was a new design. The RF-84F Thunderflash was a photo reconnaissance version ...

, Northrop NF-5A/B, and finally the General Dynamics F-16A/B Fighting Falcon. 316 Squadron flew the F-16 and was inactivated in April 1994.

Development since the 1980s

In 1984 a terminal building for civilian air traffic was constructed, based on a

Leo de Bever Leonardus Lodewijk Josephus "Leo" de Bever (14 July 1930 – 14 August 2015) was a Dutch architect best known for his works in the city of Eindhoven, which included the Evoluon which he created together with , the Catharina Ziekenhuis and Eindho ...

design. After the end of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

, Eindhoven was transformed into a military transport base. Initially it was home to F27-300M Troopship aircraft. Over the years,

Fokker 50 The Fokker 50 is a turboprop-powered airliner, designed as an improved version of the successful Fokker F27 Friendship. The Fokker 60 is a stretched freighter version of the Fokker 50. Both aircraft were manufactured and supported by Dutch airc ...

, Fokker 60, McDonnell Douglas KDC-10,

Lockheed C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally design ...

and

Gulfstream IV The Gulfstream IV (or G-IV or GIV) and derivatives are a family of twinjet aircraft, mainly for private or business use. They were designed and built by Gulfstream Aerospace, a General Dynamics company based in Savannah, Georgia, United State ...

aircraft were stationed at the air base. The Fokker aircraft have been retired. On 15 July 1996, a

Belgian Air Force The Belgian Air Component ( nl, Luchtcomponent, french: Composante air) is the air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces, and until January 2002 it was officially known as the Belgian Air Force ( nl, Belgische Luchtmacht; french: Force aérienne belg ...

C-130H Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally desig ...

crashed at the airport – known as the

Herculesramp The 1996 Belgian Air Force Hercules accident is an aviation accident that occurred on 15 July 1996 at Eindhoven Airport, the Netherlands. The disaster involved a Belgian Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft and resulted in the death of 34 passengers. ...

(Hercules disaster). The plane caught fire and 34 people died in the intense heat. Communication problems within the emergency services meant that fire services were not aware that the C-130 carried many passengers, which likely caused more deaths. On the civilian side, the airport has continued to grow and is now the second-largest airport in the Netherlands. To accommodate this, in early 2012 work to expand Eindhoven airport was started including the addition of a 120-room Tulip Inn Hotel. On 27 May 2017, a parking garage collapsed during construction. The cause of the collapse was determined to be a construction error; the floors were made of prefabricated concrete slabs, and the connection between the slabs did not meet safety requirements. The reduced strength of the construction, in combination with the heat on that day, resulted in the partial collapse of the building. Nobody was injured or killed. In October 2018,

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...

announced it would be closing its base at the airport on 5 November 2018. Construction of a 4 star hotel by

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...

was started in 2018, the hotel opened in 2019.

Facilities

Passenger facilities include: exchange office, lost property office, luggage lockers, baby changing area, health centre and various shops, such as Rituals, AH to GO, Victoria's Secret and tax free shops: Travel Plaza and Travel luxury, and also a new Business Lounge Aspire by Swissport Eindhoven Airport also has a variety of restaurants, bars and cafes, such as: Upstairs (the Tulip Inn Hotel bar), La Place, The Bar (a flagship of Bavaria beer) and Starbucks (both before and after the security check). The airport also has a business centre. There are 1,500 parking spaces for long and short term parking.

Military

* 334 Squadron with Airbus A330-MRTT &

* 336 Squadron with

Lockheed C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally design ...

* 940 Maintenance Support Squadron * 941 Miscellaneous Support Squadron *

Movement Coordination Centre Europe The Movement Coordination Centre Europe (MCCE) is a multinational military movement brokerage centre located on the Eindhoven Airbase at Eindhoven Airport in the Netherlands. Its 29 member states are predominantly drawn from NATO and the Europ ...

European Air Transport Command The European Air Transport Command (EATC) is the command centre that exercises the operational control of the majority of the aerial refueling capabilities and military transport fleets of a consortium of seven European Union (EU) member states. ...

From 1 July 2007, Eindhoven has been the location of the

(MCCE), a merger of the former European Airlift Centre (EAC), established by the

European Air Group The European Air Group (EAG) is an independent defence organisation, formed by the Air Forces of its seven member states: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. The EAG is focused on improving interoperabilit ...

, and the Sea-lift Coordination Centre (SCC). MCCE is a non-NATO/non-European military organization. MCCE is an organization open to all governments whose membership is accepted by all the other participant nations, regulated by a specific legal technical agreement. The mission of the MCCE is to coordinate the use of air transport, surface transport (sea and land) and air-to-air refuelling (AAR) capabilities between participating nations, and thereby improve the overall efficiency of the use of owned or leased assets of the national military organizations. The centre's main focus will be on strategic movements, but not exclude operational and tactical movements. Since September 2010, Eindhoven Airport has hosted the

, made up of seven European nations which share aerial military assets in a single operative command. EATC will play a leading role in the A400M standardization process.

Airlines and destinations

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Eindhoven:eindhovenairport.nl - Destinations
retrieved 7 September 2022

Statistics

Ground transport

Eindhoven Airport is located just off the A2 motorway which offers direct connections to the North west, centre and south of the country, including the cities of

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

and

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

. The airport is also served by two of Eindhoven's electric bus routes. * Line 400 is a

shuttle bus service Public transport bus services are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable. History of buses Origins While there are indications ...

line that connects the airport to its

main railway station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

.Timetable of line 400 from Eindhoven Airport to Eindhoven Station NS �
OVEindhoven.nl
/ref> * Line 401 is a

bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

line that connects the airport to Eindhoven's city centre and its

. * Line 20 connects Best railway station and the town of

Best Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation ...

with Eindhoven Airport. Also connects the airport with the town of

Veldhoven Veldhoven () is a municipality and town on the Gender in the southern Netherlands, just southwest of Eindhoven. Topography Dutch topographic map of Veldhoven (town), Dec. 2013 Population centres The modern town of Veldhoven is an agglomerat ...

and the High Tech Campus of

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Eindhoven railway station Eindhoven Centraal railway station is the main railway station in Eindhoven in North Brabant, Netherlands. It is the busiest station outside the Randstad area and an important station in the southern part of The Netherlands. History The station ...

, the district of Strijp-T (connecting with the

Eindhoven Strijp-S railway station Eindhoven Strijp-S is a railway station located in northwestern Eindhoven, Netherlands at the Strijp-S creative and residential district built on the former Philips factory complex. The station was opened on 23 September 1971 and is located on the ...

), and the Nieuw Acht Industrial Complex with Eindhoven Airport.

References

External links

* * * {{authority control Royal Netherlands Air Force bases Airports in North Brabant Airports established in 1932 Buildings and structures in Eindhoven Transport in Eindhoven 1932 establishments in the Netherlands International airports in the Netherlands