Lelystad Airport Expansion Costs Soar by Additional 43 Million Euros Over Past 3 Years

ANPThe main entrance of Lelystad Airport

In association with

Broadcasting Flevoland

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 13:13

Although no additional plane has landed or taken off, the expansion of Lelystad Airport has cost an additional 43 million euros over the past three years, according to a new calculation by Broadcasting Flevoland. This amount is in addition to the more than 200 million euros that have been spent on the airport since 2008.

Lelystad Airport has been overhauled in recent years so that it can take over holiday flights from Schiphol. According to the original plans, the renovation should have been completed in 2018, but the date was postponed time and time again for various reasons. Local residents and environmental organizations have been fighting against the expansion for years. The nitrogen problems were added to that.

Recent releases

In 2020, Omroep Flevoland and research platform Follow the Money reported that up to that point, more than 214 million euros had been invested in preparing Lelystad Airport for commercial aviation. The regional broadcaster has asked all relevant authorities and Royal Schiphol Group what additional expenditure has been made since then until the end of 2022. Not all amounts are yet known for 2023.

According to Omroep Flevoland, the new data shows that a total of at least 243.2 million euros has been spent on Lelystad Airport since 2008. According to the regional broadcaster, the amount written about in 2020 was 14.5 million euros lower because expenditure was ultimately lower or not incurred.

Nitrogen rights

According to the broadcaster, recent figures show that Royal Schiphol Group, owner of Lelystad Airport, has invested the most money in the airport since 2020. Royal Schiphol Group does not want to say exactly how much has been spent, but according to Omroep Flevoland, the expenditure between 2020 and the end of 2022 amounts to 22 million euros. Of this, 17.9 million euros went to losses from 2021 and 2022 and 4.1 million euros to investments.

Costs have also been incurred to ensure that Lelystad Airport meets the requirements for a nature permit. For this purpose, the nitrogen rights of three farms in Gelderland were purchased. It is not known exactly how much was spent on those rights. It is clear that a total of 7.5 million euros will have been spent on nitrogen rights for both Lelystad Airport and Schiphol in 2022.

Millions to air traffic controllers

Furthermore, air traffic control at Lelystad Airport appears to be a major expense item. Since 2019, the airport has had a manned control tower. The underlying idea was that the air traffic controllers and assistants could get settled in before the planned opening in 2020. But because it has been postponed time and time again, the control tower still does not handle large air traffic.

Meanwhile, millions go to air traffic controllers. According to Omroep Flevoland, this amounts to 17.4 million euros in a period from 2020 to the end of 2022. That amount is paid by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. The money comes from a fund for Eurocontrol, the central European organization for air traffic control.

Lelystad Airport expenditure 2020-2022: 43.4 million

• Royal Schiphol Group: 22 million
• Air Traffic Control Netherlands: 17.4 million
• Province: 1.9 million
• Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management: 1.7 million
• Municipality of Lelystad: 291,000
• Municipality of Almere: 25,000

Figures: Omroep Flevoland

The other costs incurred for Lelystad Airport mainly consist of official costs, advice or studies into flight routes, nitrogen or noise pollution. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management spent more than one million euros on this, the province of Flevoland 1.9 million euros and the municipality of Lelystad 291,000 euros. For the municipality of Almere, the costs amount to 25,000 euros.

The province has further invested in the construction of a network of noise measuring points in Flevoland, which measures whether traffic to and from Lelystad Airport exceeds noise limits.

In addition, the government, the province of Flevoland and the municipality of Lelystad have together invested just over one million euros in a so-called Aviation Fund. This is a fund of the three governments to, among other things, stimulate the quality of life around the airport.

2024-01-08 12:13:12
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