Due to the Ministry of Defense’s plan to renovate the runway at Eindhoven Air Base, the entire airport will be closed for five months. According to aviation expert Joris Melkert of Delft University of Technology, this is not an unnecessarily long period. “At Schiphol, the runways are also closed for months for maintenance. The difference is that in Eindhoven you only have one runway.”
The Ministry of Defense wants to renovate the runway and make it suitable for landing and taking off in dense fog. To do this, the version of the so-called Instrument Landing System must be updated. There will also be additional emergency lanes for aircraft, new lighting and there will be room for another installation that will allow aircraft to brake better.
“It’s a logical term.”
This is all evident from a so-called market consultation of the Central Government Real Estate Agency on behalf of Defense. Companies can register for the tender. To carry out the work, Eindhoven Airport will be closed for five months.
That seems long, but it is not an unusual period for this type of maintenance, says aviation expert Joris Melkert of Delft University of Technology. “It is a logical period. You need that time. Just look at what happens at Schiphol. Jobs there are closed for months for maintenance. There they can move flights to other jobs, but of course you only have one in Eindhoven.”
Defense has not announced when the job will be completed. A spokesperson did not want to say anything about the plans on Wednesday. The ministry will provide more information in a letter to parliament within a few weeks.
The months in which the work is done are fixed: between February and June. Melkert: “They choose this period because the weather is favorable for maintenance. It is not too cold, but not too hot either.”
“They have prepared this well.”
There is therefore still speculation about the year in which maintenance will start. Previous plans talked about 2025. That is soon, but according to Melkert not unachievable. “The fact that the tender is now underway means that Defense has been working on this for a long time. So they have prepared this well.”
It is certain that travelers from Eindhoven Airport will have to fly from other airports during this period and all companies at the airport will have to move or come to a standstill.
In the summer of 2022, the staff shortage affected Eindhoven airport. Huge queues formed in the departure hall.
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The airport in Eindhoven will close for five months for renovation