Eindhoven Airport grows along with Brainport, but within limits

Eindhoven Airport is on the eve of a major renovation. On July 19, 2027, the new terminal hall must be ready, exactly on the day the airport reopens after a five-and-a-half-month closure. That closure is necessary because of major maintenance on the runway and the landing area, for which the Ministry of Defence is responsible. For Eindhoven Airport, it is a painful but necessary intervention, according to director Roel Hellemons. “We have to swallow hard three times, and then it is a fact. Then we have to deal with it.”

But behind that temporary closure lies a larger movement. Eindhoven Airport has long since ceased to be only the airport where people from the region depart for their holiday destination. The airport is increasingly developing into an economic gateway for Brainport. According to Hellemons, 45 percent of travelers now use the airport not to leave Eindhoven, but precisely to come to Eindhoven or the region. For work, family visits, study, or a business appointment. “That is where, for a very large part, the economic value lies, also for Brainport,” he said in Studio040’s talk show Eindje van de Week.

Almost eighty European connections

Eindhoven Airport is the second airport in the Netherlands, with around seven million passengers. The airport connects the region directly with almost eighty destinations in Europe. According to Hellemons, those connections are not a luxury, but infrastructure. “The fact that you can fly directly from Eindhoven to almost eighty destinations is of value.”

That value increases as the region becomes more international. Brainport is growing, companies are attracting international talent, the university and knowledge institutions are bringing students and researchers from all over Europe to Eindhoven, and companies such as ASML, Philips, NXP and countless suppliers operate in international chains. That is visible in the terminal, Hellemons says. “You hear all the languages of the world there.”

The data confirm that picture. Where Eindhoven Airport used to be mainly used by people from Eindhoven and the surrounding area who went on holiday, the traveler profile has changed. Within the doubled share of incoming passenger traffic, international visits to family and friends play a major role. “One in three travelers is related to that. That is present in all kinds of sectors: the university, people, internationals who work here.”

For many of those travelers, a direct connection with their city or region of origin is of great significance. Not only practically, but also socially. An international ecosystem functions better if people can continue to feel connected to home.

Growth cannot simply happen

The economic demand for more connections is there, Hellemons says. The airport has waiting lists of airlines that want to fly to Eindhoven. But growth is not possible without limits. Eindhoven Airport is bound by noise limits and by agreements with the surrounding area. “If we did not have those, we could serve many more people. But of course we respect those limits and we stay within them.”

The airport is currently limited to 41,500 civilian flight movements per year. In addition, there are military flights, because Eindhoven Airport is a co-user of a military airport. Until 2030, growth is in fact not possible, according to Hellemons. After that, limited growth can be looked at again, provided the airport remains within stricter standards for noise, CO₂ and nitrogen. According to him, an earlier advisory report from 2019 mentions possible growth of around 2.5 percent per year, but only within those preconditions.

With that, Eindhoven Airport touches on a broader Brainport discussion. The region needs international accessibility to continue functioning economically, but that same growth puts pressure on the living environment, space, mobility, and climate. The airport is therefore both an economic engine and a source of social tension.

Less noise through quieter aircraft

An important part of the agreements with the surrounding area is noise reduction. In 2019, it was set that Eindhoven Airport may cause 30% less aircraft noise in 2030 than in 2019. According to Hellemons, that must mainly happen through the use of quieter aircraft. “That is quite ambitious. We are also far ahead of other airports. But we are going to achieve it.”

The biggest step still has to come. After the runway closure, Transavia, the main airline at Eindhoven Airport, will station new Airbus Neo aircraft there. Those planes have quieter engines and emit less CO₂. “Then it will really move quickly,” Hellemons expects. According to him, other airlines are also increasingly seeing that Eindhoven is focusing on more modern, quieter aircraft.

The improvement of the infrastructure also helps with that. During the closure, not only will the terminal be expanded by 12,000 square meters, but the landing area will also be upgraded. There will be a better instrument landing system, allowing flights to continue for longer in fog. The runway will also be widened, an extra taxiway will be added, and water storage will be improved.

Flying remains difficult to make sustainable

The sustainability issue, however, remains larger than noise alone. According to Hellemons, the societal debate about flying is real. Still, in practice Eindhoven Airport sees little effect from flight shame. “The people who say they have flight shame and really no longer fly form a very small group.” Young people between twenty and thirty-five in particular, according to him, continue to fly a lot.

That does not relieve the aviation sector of responsibility, Hellemons emphasizes. “That does not mean that we as an aviation sector do not have to make that transition toward being less polluting. We really are going to do that.” But according to him, aviation is more difficult to make sustainable than many other sectors.

With current technology, electric flight is not yet practical for large aircraft. For smaller aircraft, that is already happening to some extent. According to Hellemons, the real sustainability improvement of larger aviation will mainly have to come from sustainable fuels: first biofuels, later synthetic kerosene. “That is where the future lies. That has to accelerate, and Europe must also lead the way in that.”

New neighbors, new mobility questions

The growth of Brainport is taking place literally next to the airport. At Brainport Industries Campus, major expansions are planned, including for ASML, with tens of thousands of additional jobs. Hellemons calls that development “super positive,” but also sees that the airport and area development must not get in each other’s way.

Accessibility in particular will become crucial. “We have to prevent the airport from no longer being properly accessible because of that increase of 20,000 extra jobs.” That is why Eindhoven Airport is considering public transport plans, such as the Brainport Line, which must also serve the airport.

The airport is not a separate transport hub, but part of a region that is growing internationally and at the same time wants to remain liveable. The coming years will have to show whether that combination is sustainable: strengthening economic accessibility, without further stretching the limits of the environment and climate.

For Hellemons, the direction is clear. Eindhoven Airport wants to continue offering the connections that Brainport needs, but within stricter preconditions. “Then we can continue to do the beautiful thing that aviation offers, making all those connections, but in a responsible way.”