Social interest

Groningen Airport Eelde is an important airport for medical flights, donor flights and for the trauma helicopter of the University Medical Center Groningen, the UMCG. 

The trauma helicopter performs about 2,900 flights a year (year: 2023). This serves the whole of the northern Netherlands and part of Overijssel. In addition, 150 time-critical donor flights are handled annually for the UMCG's transplant centre.

Rescue services and the Ministry of Defence (for military operational flights) also use our facilities. In 2023, there were 80 military movements, 22 for the police and two government movements.

Besides passenger flights to various European destinations, Groningen Airport Eelde facilitates a diverse pallet of air traffic such as business flights, surveillance flights, medical flights and teaching traffic; the airport is home to the KLM Flight Academy where up to about 70 students per year of study are trained to become commercial pilots every year.

Since 1954, the National Aviation School (KLS) has opened its doors at Groningen Airport Eelde, aiming to train pilots so that safety in the air can be guaranteed. Groningen Airport Eelde is a very suitable training ground because all the necessary training facilities such as accommodation, runway lighting, possibility of instrument approaches and air traffic control used to handling training traffic are available. We are proud to be able to contribute to this as an airport.