Five new aircraft car parks officially opened
Technology Base board chairman Jeroen Diepemaat officially opened five new aircraft parking areas at Twente Airport this afternoon. This was done by cutting a ribbon and in the presence of management and employees of Twente Airport, Technology Base, contractor Strukton Civiel North & East and Lufthansa Technik. With the five new parking spaces, Twente Airport has extra possibilities to park aircraft.
Commissioned by Twente Airport, Strukton Civiel constructed three small and two large parking areas. For the parking area, 1,085 m3 of concrete with a thickness of 30 centimetres was used. To get to the car park, a `tour' was constructed of 2,345 tonnes of asphalt on crushed rubble. The design and construction of the five parking spaces took only five months. The car parks 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 car parks is underway.
Corona crisis
Due to the drop in demand and numerous travel restrictions caused by the corona crisis, airlines are keeping some of their aircraft grounded. Both airlines and leasing companies are taking advantage of opportunities at Twente Airport. Six Lufthansa Boeing 747s, for instance, are parked there and two smaller aircraft (Airbus A220) belonging to a leasing company are already there. Negotiations are still ongoing with other airlines.
Besides parking, maintenance companies also carry out light maintenance work on the aircraft. This is important, as otherwise the aircraft lose their airworthiness and thus their value. How long the planes stay depends on market developments; when aviation picks up and flights are allowed again. However, it is expected that a large proportion of the aircraft will be grounded for an extended period.
Maintenance
Twente Airport is working with development company Oost NL to realise a cluster for aircraft maintenance. A study, conducted by Airbus Consulting, outlines a favourable 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 part, and economic development in the region.