The aircraft manufacturer’s plans include the conversion of a Fokker 100 so that the aircraft can fly on hydrogen and regular fuel. They will do test flights with this. According to De Groot, this should happen in 2027 or 2028. Ultimately, Fokker Next Gen wants to build a completely new hydrogen-powered aircraft. That device is now being designed.
“The assembly of that aircraft must then be done here, so that it can be sold,” says the airport director. If all plans go ahead, the device will be on the market in 2035. According to De Groot, this is an opportunity for the North to “regain high-quality employment after the disappearance of gas extraction”.
What do De Groot think are the chances that the factory will actually be built? “Difficult to estimate, there are still many challenges ahead. But if we do nothing, nothing will happen. We really have to go after this with the entire Northern Netherlands to make this happen. This company wants to establishing ourselves in the hydrogen region, it fits in very well with the ambitions for the Northern Netherlands. We all have to work together to make that happen.”