Five new aircraft parking lots at Twente Airport officially opened

Commissioned by Twente Airport, Strukton Civiel constructed three small and two large parking lots. For the parking lot, 1,085 m3 of concrete with a thickness of 30 centimeters was used. To get to the parking lot, a `tour' was constructed of 2,345 tons of asphalt on crushed rubble. The design and construction of the five parking lots took only five months. The parking lots are sufficiently cured and ready for use. Strukton Civiel has all the necessary knowledge and expertise in-house for the project and also has experience with construction work at airports. A tender for four more parking lots is underway.

Corona crisis

As a result of the drop in demand and many travel restrictions due to the corona crisis, airlines are grounding some of their aircraft. Both airlines and leasing companies are taking advantage of opportunities at Twente Airport. Six Boeing 747s from Lufthansa, for example, are parked there and two smaller aircraft (Airbus A220) from a leasing company are already there. Negotiations are still ongoing with other airlines.

In addition to parking, maintenance companies also perform light maintenance work on the aircraft. This is important because otherwise the aircraft lose their airworthiness and thus their value. How long the planes stay depends on market developments; when aviation will pick up and flights will be allowed again. However, it is expected that many of the planes will remain on the ground for a longer period of time.

Maintenance

Twente Airport is working with development company Oost NL to realize a cluster for aircraft maintenance. A study conducted by Airbus Consulting outlines a favorable perspective for developing aircraft maintenance activities at Twente Airport. The corona crisis has accelerated this. Maintenance activities create a positive contribution to business activity at Technology Base, of which Twente Airport is a part, and economic development in the region.