Future of Lelystad Airport divides provincial and national parties

Several political parties are divided over the future of Lelystad Airport. In Flevoland, ChristenUnie and PvdA, among others, were in favor of opening the airport for vacation flights around the time of the provincial council elections, while these parties are now vehemently opposed to this in the national election manifestos.

The PvdA Flevoland said before the elections in March that the airport could create additional jobs in the province. Instead, the GroenLinks-PvdA election manifesto for the Tweede Kamer states that the airport should be closed. “Dutch air traffic is the biggest contributor to global warming” and harms people and nature, according to the party. A message that is more in line with what GroenLinks in Flevoland believes.

However, Christian Union in Flevoland is in favor of opening Lelystad Airport as a vacation airport, but only if the planes fly exclusively on renewable energy. The national party says that “the opening of an additional airport does not fit in with a policy that aims to reduce air traffic”. The D66 seems to be even more divided, as the local sections of Flevoland are against the airport, the provincial D66 is for it, but the national election program says that opening an additional airport is not responsible for people, nature, and the climate.

In the coalition agreement signed by the BBB, the VVD, the PVV, the Christian Union, and the SGP in Flevoland at the beginning of this year, the parties write about the “economic benefits” of opening up. The VVD is also in favor nationwide. But if it were up to the national BBB, Lelystad Airport would not be opened. The PVV, however, has not said a word about the airport in its election manifesto.

It is particularly striking that many parties that are in favor in Flevoland have spoken out against the opening in the neighboring provinces of Overijssel and Gelderland. The coalition parties in Gelderland recently expressed their concern about low-level overflights to and from Lelystad Airport, possibly over the Veluwe. Such low overflights could lead to noise pollution, for example.

Ultimately, the national government will decide on the future of Lelystad Airport. This is expected to happen next year, but only once a new Cabinet has been formed. Since the New Social Contract and the PVV do not mention the airport in their election manifestos, it is not yet clear whether the majority of the new Tweede Kamer (based on the polls) is for or against the opening of the airport.