Air Force to have one final flight in the Netherlands with F-16 jets

The Royal Netherlands Air Force is saying goodbye to all its F-16 jets at the Volkel air base on Friday. The aircraft will depart after being used for 45 years. At least six aircraft will make one last trip over the Netherlands in formation. A spokesperson said various locations “which are connected to the fighter jets” are being approached from the air.

The departing flight will start at 1:30 p.m. from the airport in Breda and will take just under two hours. The formation will start at Volkel and pass the old air base in Twente, De Peel, before going to the command center Nieuw-Milligen via Leeuwarden and Vlieland.

Soesterberg, where pilots were medically examined, is the next destination before they go on to The Hague for the Ministry of Defence. Woensdrecht will also get an aerial visit because that is where pilot training was held and the F-16s were maintained. The aircraft, which flies over the Netherlands at a height of at least 400 meters, can also be admired from Gilze en Rijen and Eindhoven. The flight can also be followed via a livestream on Youtube.

The aircraft have been used since 1979 and are now outdated, according to the Air Force, making maintenance more expensive. They will be replaced by the newer F-35s. Ukraine will be given 24 of the old F-16s for their war against Russia, with 18 aircraft going to the training center in Romania.

Not all of the F-16s will be at the goodbye. Many aircraft have already been sent to the practice terrain where the Romanians work alongside the Danish and Belgians. It is unknown whether there are fighter jets already in Ukraine, and because of the sensitivity of this information, nothing is shared about it.

Locations for last flight

They depart Volkel Air Force Base at 1:30 p.m. for the two-hour tour over much of the country. They will fly over the following regions and cities before landing at 3:30 p.m.:

• Volkel, Noord-Brabant
• De Peel, Limburg
• Twente, Overijssel
• Leeuwarden, Friesland
• Vlieland, Friesland
• Air Operations Control Station Nieuw-Milligen, Gelderland
• Soesterberg, Utrecht
• The Hague, Zuid-Holland
• Woensdrecht, Noord-Brabant
• Breda, Noord-Brabant
• Gilze-Rijen, Noord-Brabant
• Eindhoven, Noord-Brabant