Maastricht Aachen Airport is a regional airport in

Beek Beek (; li, Baek ) is a town and municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, in the province of Limburg. As of 2012, Beek has a population of about 16,400, of which about 8,800 live in the town of Beek. The municipality of Beek makes part o ...

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

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 ...

, located northeast of

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 ...

and northwest of Aachen,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is the second-largest hub for cargo flights in the Netherlands. As of 2016, the airport had a passenger throughput of 176,000 and handled 60,000

ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...

s of cargo. The Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) of the

European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, commonly known as Eurocontrol (stylised ''EUROCONTROL''), is an international organisation working to achieve safe and seamless air traffic management across Europe. Founded in 1960, Eu ...

(EUROCONTROL) is also located at the airport.

History

Pre-World War II

Plans for an airport in southern

date back as far as 1919, with various locations being considered. Years of debate among various municipalities over the location and funding of the airport delayed its construction. In July 1939 the Limburg provincial government agreed to financially back the airport, however, the start of World War II meant the plans were put on hold once more.

Advanced Landing Ground Y-44

After the allied invasion of Normandy, the

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...

, specifically the IX Engineer Command, was tasked with constructing temporary airfields close to the advancing

front Front may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film * ''The Front'', 1976 film Music * The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and e ...

. The area around Maastricht was liberated in 1944. In October 1944, the advance headquarters of the XIX Tactical Air Command and the 84th and 303rd Fighter Wings were moved to

to keep up with the Ninth Army. Because of the proximity to the new headquarters, the decision was made to create a temporary airfield between the towns of

Geulle Geulle (; li, Gäöl ) is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Meerssen, about 8 km southwest of Geleen. History The village was first mentioned in 1298 as Gole, and refers to the Geul River wh ...

and Ulestraten. Several

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of ...

s which had suffered damage from a tank battle were commandeered and cleared. Rubble from the nearby town of Geleen, which had been unintentionally bombed in 1942, was used to level the area.Vleugels 1987, p. 14 The runway was and reinforced with pierced steel planks. The field was built in less than 2 months and was operational on 22 March 1945, and was designated Y-44. The first unit to be based at the field was the 31st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, flying the F-6, a reconnaissance version of the P-51 Mustang. The unit arrived on 22 March 1945. As

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

was rapidly collapsing, the front was already well into Germany by the time the field was ready, and no direct combat sorties were operated from Y-44. 31st TRS was moved to Y-80 near Wiesbaden on 19 April 1945.

Units operating at the field

*31st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron,

F-6 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

(22 March 1945 – 19 April 1945 ) *39th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron,

F-5 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive tw ...

(2 April 1945 – 20 April 1945) *

67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group 67 may refer to: * 67 (number) * one of the years 67 BC, AD 67, 1967, 2067 * ''67'', a 1992 song by Love Battery from the album '' Between the Eyes'' * 67 (rap group), a drill music group from London See also * 67th Regiment (disambiguation) * ...

**155th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron (Night), F-3 (4 April 1945 – 10 July 1945) * 387th Bombardment Group (Medium) **556, 557, 558 and 559th Squadrons, B-26 Marauder (4 May 1945) – 30 May 1945

After World War II

Authority over what was to become known as Beek airfield (''vliegveld Beek''), was officially transferred to the Dutch government on 1 August 1945. It was decided to keep it open rather than re-open the pre-war debate over the location of an airport in the Maastricht area. The first civilian aircraft landed on 26 September 1945 and were operated by the ''Regeeringsvliegdienst'', a government service with the purpose of carrying government officials and other people with urgent business, because the war had left many roads and railroads heavily damaged. The service used six

de Havilland Dragon Rapide The de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide is a 1930s short-haul biplane airliner developed and produced by British aircraft company de Havilland. Capable of accommodating 6–8 passengers, it proved an economical and durable craft, despite its rel ...

s made available by the British government. In 1946, the service was taken over by

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...

, using DC-3 Dakotas. However, as repairs to the Dutch infrastructure progressed, demand for the service dropped and it was stopped in 1949.Vleugels 1987, p. 28 The first semi-permanent

airport terminal An airport terminal is a building at an airport where passengers transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from an aircraft. Within the terminal, passengers purchase tickets, transfer t ...

was completed in 1947. The runway was paved in 1949, and a second paved runway was completed in 1950. In 1951, an agreement between the airport and the

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

allowed for rapid expansion of the facilities. Runway 04/22 was lengthened to 1,850 m (6,070 ft), and permanent runway lighting was installed in 1960.

1950s and 1960s

The late 1950s and early 1960s brought significant expansion in commercial operations at the airport. Operators included

, Airnautical, Skytours, Euravia, Tradair and Transair. The airport was also used as an intermediate stop for services from London and Manchester to Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Yugoslavia. A local airline based at the airport, ''Limburg Airways'', had a contract with the International Herald Tribune for distributing the newspaper's European edition, which was printed in Paris. Limburg Airways was taken over by Martin's Air Charter (now

Martinair Martinair (legally ''Martinair Holland N.V.'') is a Dutch cargo airline headquartered and based at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and a subsidiary of Air France–KLM. The airline was founded in 1958 by Martin Schröder. Since 2011, Martinair has o ...

) in 1962. A promotion campaign by the Dutch tourist board for the nearby town of

Valkenburg aan de Geul Valkenburg aan de Geul (; li, Valkeberg ) is a municipality situated in the southeastern Dutch province of Limburg. The name refers to the central town in the municipality, Valkenburg, and the small river Geul. History Sieges and conquests ha ...

, aimed at British tourists, was highly successful and brought services by Invicta Airlines,

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

and

Channel Airways Channel Airways was a private airline formed in the United Kingdom in 1946 as East Anglian Flying Services. The newly formed airline initially operated aerial joy rides with a single, three-seater aircraft from an airstrip on the Kent coast. Sc ...

. Domestic travel picked up as well, and newly created

NLM CityHopper NLM CityHopper, full name Nederlandse Luchtvaart Maatschappij (Dutch Aviation Company), was a Dutch commuter airline, founded in 1966. Its head office was in Building 70 in Schiphol Airport East in Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands. History The carr ...

started to operate a service between Maastricht and Amsterdam Schiphol in 1966. The service would continue after KLM acquired NLM in 1992, and would last until 2008. When it was cancelled, it was the last remaining domestic service in the Netherlands. An ILS system, which allows landings in poor weather, was built in 1967, for runway 22 only.

1970s

In 1973, the airport was expanded again to handle bigger aircraft. The main runway was lengthened to 2500 m (8,200 ft), taxiways were widened, and aprons were enlarged. This mostly offset the negative effects of the 1973 oil crisis, passenger volume remained the same and cargo operations expanded. The international air traffic control area control centre for

EUROCONTROL The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, commonly known as Eurocontrol (stylised ''EUROCONTROL''), is an international organisation working to achieve safe and seamless air traffic management across Europe. Founded in 1960, Eur ...

was built at the airport. It started operations on March 1, 1972.

1980s

Around 1980, the airport changed its name to "Maastricht Airport". In 1983, the aging passenger terminal and air traffic control tower were replaced by new buildings The new terminal was later expanded and is still in use as of 2010. On 14 May 1985,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

held an open-air mass for 50,000 people at the airport, as part of his visit to the Netherlands.

Plan for an east–west runway

In 1981, a development plan for the airport recommended constructing a 3,500m east–west runway to facilitate growth in cargo operations, particularly during the night hours. The new runway would greatly reduce noise impact over the towns of

Meerssen Meerssen (; li, Meersje ) is a town and a municipality in southeastern Netherlands. History The Treaty of Meerssen was signed in Meerssen in 870. The Treaty of Meerssen was an agreement of the division of the Carolingian Empire by the surviving ...

and the city of

. Although some night operations are allowed (including distribution of the European edition of ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

''), runway length limits intercontinental operations. The Dutch government initially approved plans for the runway in 1985, however, the new runway would mean increased noise over other towns and parts of Belgium as well, and the final decision was delayed. As the new east–west runway would require substantial investment, it would only be profitable if night operations were permitted and increasingly the debate became focused on whether or not night flights should be allowed. Successive cabinets could not reach a final decision, and in 1998, after some 25 years of debate and postponement, the plan was aborted altogether.

1990-2009

In 1992, the Belgian town of Tongeren became shareholder of the airport. Two years later, the board of trade or chamber of commerce of the nearby German city of Aachen became shareholder. This interest eventually became prominent and in October 1994 the airport's name was changed to "Maastricht-Aachen Airport". In July 2004, a 100% share in the airport was acquired by OmDV, a consortium of airport investment company ''Omniport'' and the construction company ''Dura Vermeer'', making it the first fully privatised airport in the Netherlands. Substantial investments in the airport infrastructure have been made since the privatization. Between August and October 2005, the runway was resurfaced and renamed to 03/21 (from 04/22) to compensate for changes in the

earth's magnetic field Earth's magnetic field, also known as the geomagnetic field, is the magnetic field that extends from Earth's interior out into space, where it interacts with the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emanating from the Sun. The magnetic ...

. The airport originally had two runways; the second (shorter, ) runway (07/25) was closed and removed to make room for a new cargo

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output dev ...

and additional aircraft maintenance facilities. Construction of the new facilities started in April 2008. On 7 May 2005, Air Force One carrying US president

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

landed at the airport. Bush visited the

Netherlands American Cemetery Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial ( nl, Amerikaanse Begraafplaats Margraten) is a Second World War military war grave cemetery, located in the village of Margraten, east of Maastricht, in the most southern part of the Netherlands. The ...

in nearby

Margraten Margraten (; li, Mergraote) is a village and a former municipality in the southeastern part of the Netherlands. On 1 January 2011 this former municipality merged with a neighbouring one, which resulted in the new Eijsden-Margraten municipality. ...

the next day. The

instrument landing system In aviation, the instrument landing system (ILS) is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather. In its original form, it allows an aircraft to ...

(ILS) for runway 21 was upgraded to category III in 2008, which allows landings in very low visibility conditions. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is the only other airport in the Netherlands that has category III ILS.

2010s

In March 2011, the airport was certified to handle the upcoming

Boeing 747-8 The Boeing 747-8 is a wide-body airliner formerly developed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, and the largest variant of the 747. After introducing the 747-400, Boeing considered larger 747 versions as alternatives to the proposed double-deck Ai ...

, as two of the airport's major airlines—

Cargolux Cargolux, legally ''Cargolux Airlines International S.A.'', is a Luxembourgian flag carrier cargo airline with its headquarters and hub at Luxembourg Airport. With a global network, it is one of the largest scheduled all-cargo airlines in Euro ...

and

AirBridge Cargo AirBridgeCargo Airlines, LLC (Russian: ООО Авиакомпания «ЭйрБриджКарго»), part of Volga-Dnepr Group, is the largest Russian cargo airline with its head office in Moscow. It operates scheduled cargo services on rou ...

—have placed orders for this aircraft. Ryanair announced on July 3, 2012, that Maastricht will become a new Ryanair base from December 2012, the first on Dutch soil, with one

Boeing 737-800 The Boeing 737 Next Generation, commonly abbreviated as 737NG, or 737 Next Gen, is a narrow-body aircraft powered by two jet engines and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Launched in 1993 as the third generation derivative of the Boein ...

being based at the airport and three new routes being launched:

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

London-Stansted London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acros ...

and

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and '' comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Ven ...

. In late October 2012, start-up Dutch airline,

Maastricht Airlines Maastricht Airlines was a Dutch airline which had announced plans to start operating routes from Maastricht Aachen Airport using two Fokker 50 aircraft leased from the Italian cargo airline MiniLiner. The aircraft were to receive registrations ...

, announced plans to base six Fokker 50 aircraft at the airport, initially operating to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, before adding

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Paris Charles de Gaulle and

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

in 2014. This did not happen and the company declared bankruptcy. Also in 2013, the airport was helped by the province with a 4.5 million euro contribution. The airport was very close to bankruptcy during this period. Later on, in March 2014, the same province of Limburg believed that closure was never an option. They decided that they would like to take over the airport. In December 2013, a spokesperson of the airport confirmed the closure of the Ryanair base from March 2014, entailing the ending of the Bergamo, Brive,

and Málaga flights. In 2017,

Corendon Dutch Airlines Corendon Dutch Airlines is a Dutch charter and scheduled airline headquartered in Lijnden, Haarlemmermeer. It is a sister company of Corendon Airlines and Corendon Airlines Europe. History Corendon Dutch Airlines is the Dutch branch of the ' ...

announced that they would open a base on the airport with one aircraft based in summer 2018. In late 2018 renovations started on the passenger terminal. Also, freight carriers as

Emirates SkyCargo Emirates SkyCargo ( ar, الإمارات للشحن الجوي) is a cargo airline based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. As of 2020, it is the fourth largest cargo airline worldwide in terms of the total freight tonne-kilometres flown and interna ...

and Saudia Cargo found their way to the airport, while

Turkish Airlines Cargo Turkish Airlines ( Turkish: ''Türk Hava Yolları'') is the national flag carrier airline of Turkey. , it operates scheduled services to 340 destinations in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, making it the largest mainline carrier in the w ...

Silk Way Airlines Silk Way Airlines is an Azerbaijani private cargo airline with its head office and flight operations at Heydar Aliyev International Airport in Baku. It operates freight services to Asia, the Middle East and Europe, as well as services for govern ...

and

Sky Gates Airlines Sky Gates Airlines is a Russian cargo airline which operates principally out of Zhukovsky International Airport, Zhukovsky and Sheremetyevo International Airport, Sheremetyevo airports in Moscow, Russia, where it was also headquartered. Histor ...

further expanded their operations in

. Meanwhile, both

and Ryanair announced that they would expand their number destinations.

even based a second aircraft during the summer season.

Aircraft movements

The number of aircraft movements decreased significantly between 2005 and 2007 compared to previous years due to relocation of a major Dutch flight school, the ''Nationale Luchtvaartschool'', nowadays better known as CAE Oxford Aviation Academy. The flight school, which was originally based at this airport, moved all flight operations to Évora Airport in Portugal. In the summer of 2007, flight training at the airport resumed as the ''Stella Aviation Academy'' moved into the facilities previously used by the NLS. In 2009, there were a total of 40,621 aircraft movements, up 13.9% from 2008. In 2008, there were a total of 35,668 aircraft movements, up 83.4% from 2007. In 2007, there were a total of 19,454 aircraft movements, up 35% from 2006.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Maastricht/Aachen:

Cargo

Statistics

Source: Statistics Netherlands

Passenger evolution

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Cargo evolution

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Other facilities

Jet Center - Maastricht Aachen Airport (MAA) provides handling for general aviation aircraft. Jet Center operates from a hangar situated on the East side of the airport. Maas Aviation has operated an aircraft painting facility at the airport since the late 1980s. In 2017 it doubled its capacity when it opened a second adjacent paint shop hangar. The Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) of the

(EUROCONTROL) is located next to the airport. Samco Aircraft Maintenance B.V. operates from a hangar on the east side of the airport and supports a wide range of aircraft maintenance activities. Building work on a second adjacent hangar was completed in 2018. The Aviation Competence Centre (ACC) is a training organization for aircraft mechanics and is located at the airport.

Facilities

Construction of a hotel adjacent to the passenger terminal building started in 2019. The GR8 hotel opened 2021.

Ground transportation

Car

The airport is located along motorway A2, exit 50. Taxis are available at the airport.

Bus

There is bus service (line 30), operated by

Arriva Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.Sittard and

. This line also covers transport between the

Maastricht railway station Maastricht railway station ( nl, Station Maastricht ; li, Statie Mestreech ) is located in Maastricht in Limburg, Netherlands. It is the main railway station in Limburg's capital city. It is the southern terminus of the –Maastricht intercity ser ...

and the airport.

operates a bus connection service to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Tickets to use this service are an add-on to a KLM flight ticket.

Bicycle

The airport is situated along the Sittard-Maastricht fast cycling route, which is designed to encourage more people to cycle.

Weather Station

Not far from the airport lies an official weather station of the KNMI (Dutch meteorological institute) The weather station was put into use in 1906.

Weather extremes

On 25 July 2019 a temperature of 39.6°C was recorded. On 29 June 2021, 87.2mm of precipitation was recorded. On 25 January 1990 a wind gust of 34m/s was recorded. On 14 February 1929 a temperature of -21.4°C was recorded. These are the official heat, precipitation, wind & cold records at this weather station.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *Vleugels, M (1987). ''Maastricht Airport 1919-1947-1987'', De Limburger.

External links

Official website
* * {{Authority control Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in the Netherlands Airports established in 1945 Airports in Limburg (Netherlands) South Limburg (Netherlands) Transport in Maastricht Aachen Beek 1945 establishments in the Netherlands International airports in the Netherlands