The future plans of Groningen Airport Eelde inspire little confidence in the Northern Court of Audit. If politicians still want to keep the airport under control, they must think carefully about the social added value and the costs of Eelde.
Is there a future for Groningen Airport Eelde (GAE)? This question has been asked – and answered – many times. Now again by the Northern Court of Audit, which, at the request of parliamentary parties in Groningen and Drenthe, looked at the plans of the loss-making airport.
As is well known, shareholders such as the provinces of Groningen and Drenthe believe that the airport has important social functions. So for the time being they keep GAE under control, despite the dark clouds gathering over aviation. They point to the trauma helicopter, donor flights and flight training that use GAE. And on unsubstantiated plans to play a role in making aviation more sustainable. Partly because of this, they keep pulling their wallets when the airport management passes by with their cap in hand.
But what is the social added value of this precious facility, which is used by relatively few? And what price tag is attached to that in the long term? This in the knowledge that neither the national government nor the regional business community want to contribute to GAE.
The outlook is not rosy. External experts who reviewed the airport’s plans at the request of the Court of Auditors doubt their feasibility. Attempts to bring Eelde under the wing of Schiphol proved fruitless. Because GAE has no prospect of cost-effective operation, the airport is not eligible for an Airport Decree. And according to the law, Eelde must have that no later than December 31 next year.
An option to keep the airport going and limit operating losses is to maintain GAE in a slimmed-down form. Such an outcome is certainly not imaginary due to the prominent role that the BBB plays in provincial politics after the elections. For example, the Drenthe BBB advocates for the northern airport in the election program. The question is whether the new politicians have learned anything from the years of discussions about the future of Groningen Airport Eelde.