Growing Eindhoven Airport means more noise for neighbors

Eindhoven Airport has undergone such rabid growth in recent years that the airport is likely to exceed the limit of 30 thousand flights in 2015. This is the maximum number of flights for which the airport has noise arrangements with the surroundings. Eindhoven Airport, the largest regional airport in the Netherlands, has grown explosively in recent years. According to the figures on 2014, which the airport released on Monday, the number of passengers increased by 16 percent compared to 2013 (3.9 million passengers) and the number of aircraft movements (takeoffs and landings) increased by 9 percent to 28,900. Eindhoven Airport wants to continue growing, but whether that can actually happen depends strongly on agreements with the so-called Alders-table, according to Frank Latour, the commercial manager of the airport. In the Alders-table, named after chairman and former minister Hans Alders, the aviation sector, governments, local residents and other interested parties make agreements on the number of aircraft movements and the noise pollution they cause. "We are now working on an evaluation of the experiences of the last few years. Mid next year we should agree on new appointments. We have grown faster than expected. We expect 4.1 million passengers next year." says Latour. According to the state, Eindhoven may grow to 43 thousand aircraft movements in 2020. The municipality of Eindhoven and the province of Noord-Brabant support this ambition. But not all the surrounding municipalities are equally happy about this. For example, expansion plans of Son en Breugel are hindered because of the noise.