About Groningen Airport

Groningen Airport Eelde was founded in 1931. At the time, it was little more than a small airfield where aircraft sometimes stood among grazing sheep.

Over the course of almost a century, the airport in the north of the Netherlands has developed into an international airport, just a short distance from the city of Groningen.

GAE is located at the heart of the Groningen Assen urban region, home to more than 550,000 people. More than 2 million people live within a 60 minute drive of the airport, and more than 4 million within 90 minutes.

Good infrastructure is essential for regional development. GAE is an airport of national importance and the only civil airport in the Northern and Eastern Netherlands. It connects the region with the rest of the world and improves accessibility for residents, business travellers and tourists. The airport also strengthens the region’s business climate and supports international cooperation for companies in sectors such as energy, knowledge development and shipping. Google even named its Groningen office after the airport code GRQ.

Because connectivity is so important, GAE actively works to further develop its network of destinations and flights. Airlines and tour operators ultimately determine which flights are offered. GAE plays a facilitating and proactive role by encouraging partners to add destinations that match demand within the airport’s catchment area.

Around four hundred people work directly for businesses based at or around the airport. Indirectly, the airport has the potential to support thousands of jobs among suppliers and within the tourism sector. Through the development of Business Park Bravo, the airport is also attracting innovative businesses that benefit from being located close to high quality aviation infrastructure.

The airport plays an essential role in acute medical care. GAE is vital for medical and repatriation flights and serves as an important link in the regional healthcare network.

Since 2016, the Mobile Medical Team has been based at the airport. Both its specially equipped vehicles and the trauma helicopter are permanently stationed here, allowing the medical team to respond immediately when an emergency call comes in. The trauma helicopter operates around 2,900 flights each year.

Time critical donor flights for the UMCG transplant centre are also handled at the airport. These flights can be life saving and require an airport that is reliable and operational whenever needed. When a donor flight is required, the airport can open specifically for these flights during the night, because every minute counts.

Groningen Airport Eelde is also a training airport. More than 300 students study at the Airport Campus, including students at the KLM Flight Academy and Noorderpoort. It is a diverse educational cluster where theory and practice come together in the rich learning environment of an operational airport.

The airport has a long tradition in aviation education. The Dutch National Aviation School established itself at the airport in 1954. The presence of full airport facilities, including air traffic control and instrument landing systems, makes it an ideal learning environment for the pilots of the future. The flight training programme has 140 students based at the Airport Campus.

Noorderpoort’s Aviation Services programme has been active at the airport since 2022 and has been fully based here since 2025.

We aim to further develop the Airport Campus in the coming years. By connecting education and professional practice, we create an environment where knowledge can be applied directly, talent can develop more quickly and cooperation with businesses and public authorities becomes a natural part of the learning experience. Step by step, this contributes to innovation in aviation and creates a place where learning, collaboration and innovation come together.

Groningen Airport Eelde is developing a future proof airport. Our ambition is clear: aviation needs to become cleaner and smarter, and the airport is taking an active role in this transition.

NXT Airport is our programme for the sustainable transformation of aviation. GAE is reducing emissions from its own operations, investing in renewable energy generation and testing electric and hydrogen applications in practice.

The airport works together with businesses, knowledge institutions and public authorities on infrastructure and technology for cleaner and quieter aviation.

The airfield is home to the world’s largest airside solar park, with an installed capacity of 22 MWp. The electrification of our ground handling equipment already makes it possible to handle an aircraft with almost no direct emissions.

Together with partners from the Hydrogen Valley, we are exploring how the airport can play a central role in an emissions free future and in the introduction of hydrogen into aviation. These projects underline Groningen Airport Eelde’s ambition to take a leading role in sustainable aviation and the regional energy transition.

Emergency services and the Dutch Ministry of Defence also make use of Groningen Airport Eelde for military operational flights. AEC Skyline is based at the airport as well and provides air support for military exercises on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.