Eindhoven Airport

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Eindhoven Airport
Eindhoven Air Base
Vliegbasis Eindhoven
(Advanced Landing Ground B-78)
IATA: EINICAO: EHEH
Summary
Airport type Public / Military
Operator Eindhoven Airport N.V.
RNLAF Vliegbasis Eindhoven
Serves Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Elevation AMSL 74 ft / 23 m
Coordinates 51°27′00″N 005°22′28″E / 51.45000°N 5.37444°E / 51.45000; 5.37444Coordinates: 51°27′00″N 005°22′28″E / 51.45000°N 5.37444°E / 51.45000; 5.37444
Website eindhovenairport.nl
Map
EHEH
Location of Eindhoven Airport
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
03/21[1] 3,000 9,842 Tarmac
Statistics (2012)
Passengers 2,977,643 Increase
Aircraft movements (>6,000 kg max. start weight) 24.265 Increase
Source: AIP from AIS the Netherlands,[1] Airport Facts & Figures[2]

Eindhoven Airport (IATA: EIN, ICAO: EHEH) is an airport located 4 NM (7.4 km; 4.6 mi) west[1] of Eindhoven, the Netherlands. In terms of the number of served passengers it is the second largest airport in the Netherlands, with 2.98 million passengers in 2012 (well behind Schiphol, which serves more than 51 million passengers).[3] The airport is used by both civilian and military traffic.

History

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 captured quickly by German forces during the Battle of the Netherlands 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 paratroopers during Operation Market Garden. Damage to the airfield was repaired and the airfield was re-used as an Advanced Landing Ground by both US and British forces under the designation B-78. The airfield was returned to the Royal Netherlands Air Force in 1952. It was home to Republic F-84 Thunderjet and Republic F-84F Thunderstreak and later the Northrop F-5.

In 1984 a terminal building for civilian air traffic is constructed. After the end of the Cold War, Eindhoven was transformed into a military transport base. Initially it was home to F27-300M Troopship aircraft. Over the years to come, Fokker 50, Fokker 60, McDonnell Douglas KDC-10, Lockheed C-130 Hercules and Gulfstream IV aircraft were stationed at the air base. The Fokker aircraft have been retired.

On 15 July 1996, a Belgian Air Force C-130 Hercules crashed at the airport - known as the Herculesramp (Hercules disaster). The plane caught fire and in the intense heat, 34 people died. As a result of communication problems within the emergency services the fire services were not aware that the C130 carried many passangers, which likely caused more people to die than if the emergency services had known about this.[4]

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 further expand Eindhoven airport was started.[5] Now, there is a 120 room Tulip Inn Hotel.

Facilities

Passenger facilities available include: Exchange office, Lost property office, Luggage lockers, Baby changing area and a Health centre. Wireless internet access is provided free of charge throughout the airport. A business lounge is available too. Major car rental companies have their offices here: Avis Rent a Car System, Europcar, Hertz, and Sixt. There are 1,500 parking spaces for long and short term parking.[6]

Airlines and destinations

View from the apron facing the terminal with a Ryanair Boeing 737–800 on stand.
Check-in area at Eindhoven Airport
Airlines Destinations
Arkefly Seasonal: Antalya
Corendon Airlines Seasonal: Antalya, Bodrum
Onur Air Seasonal: Antalya, İzmir
Ryanair Agadir, Alghero, Alicante, Bergamo, Bordeaux, Brindisi, Carcassonne, Catania (begins 6 April 2014), Chania, Corfu (begins April 2014), Dublin, Faro, Fez, Girona, Gran Canaria, Knock (begins 1 April 2014), Kraków, Lanzarote, London-Stansted, Málaga, Malta, Marrakesh, Marseille, Murcia (begins April 2014), Palma de Mallorca, Pisa, Porto, Reus, Rome-Ciampino, Seville, Stockholm-Skavsta (ends 29 March 2014), Treviso (begins April 2014), Warsaw-Modlin
Seasonal: Chania, Ibiza, Trapani
Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium Seasonal: Lourdes
Transavia.com Alicante, Athens (begins 18 April 2014), Barcelona, Berlin-Tegel, Bologna, Faro, Ibiza, Innsbruck, Istanbul Sahiba Gökçen, Lisbon, Madrid, Málaga, Naples, Nice, Palma de Mallorca, Valencia
Seasonal: Antalya, Corfu, Copenhagen, Dalaman, Gran Canaria, Heraklion, Kos, Rhodes, Salzburg, Tenerife-South, Venice-Marco Polo, Zakynthos
Wizz Air Belgrade, Brno, Bucharest, Budapest, Cluj-Napoca, Debrecen, Gdańsk, Katowice, Riga, Sofia, Skopje, Vilnius, Warsaw-Chopin, Wrocław

Military

From 1 July 2007, Eindhoven, is the location of the Movement Coordination Centre Europe (MCCE), a merger of the former European Airlift Centre (EAC), established by the European Air Group, and the Sealift Coordination Centre (SCC). MCCE is a non NATO/ non European military organization. MCCE does not have a proper 'legal status', being an organization open to all Governments whose membership is accepted by all the others participant nations. 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 organisations. The Centre’s main focus will be on strategic movements, but not excluding operational and tactical movements. Participating MCCE countries are: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States of America. The Centre is staffed by 30 military and civilians personnel from the participating countries.

From September 2010 Eindhoven Airport is also hosting the European Air Transport Command, composed of 5 European Nations (Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) who are willing to share aerial military assets in a single operative command.

Ground transport

Eindhoven Airport is located just off the A2 motorway which offers direct connections to the west and south of the country, including the cities of Amsterdam, Utrecht and Maastricht. The airport is also served by two of Eindhoven's bus routes.

  • Line 400 is a shuttle bus service line that connects the airport to its main railway station. The service frequency ranges from twice an hour in late evenings and early mornings to four times an hour during the day.[7]
  • Line 401 is a bus rapid transit line (see: Phileas) that connects the airport to Eindhoven's city centre and its main railway station. The service frequency ranges from twice an hour late in the evenings to eight times an hour during the day.[8]
  • Line 103 connects Eindhoven railway station via the northern district of Woensel with the airport, and connects the airport with the town of Veldhoven.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 EHEH – EINDHOVEN/Eindhoven. AIP from AIS the Netherlands, effective 6 Feb 2014
  2. Eindhoven Airport, Facts & Figures (Dutch; English data is not up to date)
  3. (Dutch)"Goed jaar voor Schiphol". Cubi.nl. 5 January 2007. 
  4. (Dutch)"Hercules ramp Eindhoven". Zwaailichten disaster website. 15 July 1996. Retrieved 22 February 2009. 
  5. (Dutch)"Construction terminal extension and hotel Eindhoven Airport has started". kcap.eu. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 2013-01-21. 
  6. two bits s.r.o. (2013-02-27). "Eindhoven Airport". Whichairline.com. Retrieved 2013-08-16. 
  7. Timetable of line 400 from Eindhoven Airport to Eindhoven Station NS – OVEindhoven.nl
  8. Timetable of line 401 from Eindhoven Airport to Eindhoven Station NS – OVEindhoven.nl

External links

Media related to Eindhoven Airport at Wikimedia Commons

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