Groningen and Drenthe are also about aviation. Because the airport in Eelde is co-owned by both provinces. What should they do with it?
We are in the Bites and Flights restaurant at the airport. Doewe Pelleboer (68) from Eelde is right at home here. He closely monitors the flight screens and watches the TUI aircraft on the airport grounds and the circling training aircraft. He regularly gives tours of the airport. And he wrote about the history of the aviation school in Eelde. He’s been coming here almost all his life. “I often went with my father Jan, who worked at the meteorological service from 1946 to 1954 and later often visited his former colleagues.”
Aviation has been in a bad spot in recent years, Pelleboer realizes. Flying simply takes a lot of energy and for the time being it comes from fossil fuels. “I understand if you are against aviation,” he says. In addition, Groningen Airport Eelde (GAE) needs tax money to stay afloat. “But that money is mainly needed for nationally mandatory safety measures,” Pelleboer counters. “No less than a third of the airport staff are firefighters. The government should pay for that.”
These shortages are grist to the mill of critics who believe that the provinces should pull the plug on the airport. Still, Pelleboer is optimistic. “If you had asked me about eight years ago how to proceed, I would have doubted. But now I do see a future. One way or another, we have to make flying more sustainable. ‘Eelde’ is an ideal testing ground for this.”
There are already more than 63,000 solar panels on the airport grounds. These can provide the power for electric flying and for hydrogen, which can also serve as an energy carrier. Short-range electric flying should be possible in the foreseeable future. “But also consider flying with drones, which will happen here from the drone hub,” says Pelleboer. “There are already many applications of manned and unmanned drones. For example, you can bring people with drones from Eemshaven here. Or send a package with donor organs to a hospital with an unmanned drone. Really, that’s none rocket science .”
For example, there are more companies around the airport that are involved in modern applications. ,,Take Kavel10, which performs surveys from the air. Many people don’t know that at all. There’s more going on here than just the scheduled flights.”
But aren’t they the most important function of the airport for most residents of Groningen and Drenthe? “Of course, it would also be nice if there were more. We just need a few more to get rid of those shortages. But it is important that Eelde has more important functions than just those.”
GAE needs clarity and solid ground under its feet, says Pelleboer. The provinces must make an effort to achieve this. “Affiliation with the Schiphol group is important for this,” he says. “Eelde is the last airport that is not yet part of this, since Maastricht was added. That’s kinda crazy.”
The Schiphol group is a national network of airports to which The Hague, Lelystad, Eindhoven and, more recently, Maastricht already belong. Each airport has its own function in this chain. Pelleboer: ,,Here in Eelde we have the space to further develop new forms of aviation. Other airports can then benefit from this, so that we develop sustainable aviation throughout the Netherlands.”