On Monday 2 January, major maintenance will begin on the Zwanenburgbaan Runway. The runway will therefore be unavailable to air traffic until begin-May. Aircraft that would usually take off from or land on the Zwanenburgbaan Runway will make more frequent use of the Buitenveldertbaan Runway during this period. A small proportion of flights will be moved to the Kaagbaan Runway. Additionally, the Schiphol-Oostbaan Runway may be deployed for landings.
Published on: 15 December 2022
Night flights in a southerly direction
The Zwanenburgbaan Runway is sometimes used at night for flights in a southerly direction when the Kaagbaan Runway is unavailable due to maintenance works or wind and weather conditions. During this period of works on the Zwanenburgbaan, there is a chance that the Kaagbaan Runway will not be available at night. This could be the case when there's a strong wind from the south-east; such a crosswind makes it unsafe to take off from this runway. When this occurs, the Aalsmeerbaan Runway is the alternative. As a basic principle, we deploy the Aalsmeerbaan Runway as little as possible at night and only when there is no other option. We will even move the short maintenance works on the Kaagbaan Runway to another moment in the same week if necessary.
86 football pitches of asphalt
The Zwanenburgbaan Runway was constructed in the 1960s. During this period of major maintenance, we are completely renewing the asphalt on the runway. That's no less than 86 football pitches of asphalt. Furthermore, we are renewing 12,000 square metres of markings on the runway and replacing 6 kilometres of guttering and outlets on and around the runway. We are also replacing all the halogen lights in the ground and all electricity cables with a more sustainable and reliable LED lighting installation. That's 6,400 lights and 450 kilometres of cabling. We are also fully renovating the runway control station and upgrading the rainwater drainage system in the area around the runway. These works are being carried out in collaboration with construction company Heijmans. Around 166 people will be working on the Zwanenburgbaan Runway each day.
Works on the landing system
During and after the major maintenance, Air Traffic Control the Netherlands (LVNL) will be replacing the Zwanenburgbaan Runway's Instrument Landing System (ILS). An ILS helps aircraft make a gradual curved approach towards the runway. Some of the works on the ILS can only be carried out after major maintenance has been completed. As a result, in the six weeks following the major maintenance (expected to be the end of June) the Zwanenburgbaan Runway cannot be deployed for landings from a southerly direction at times of poor visibility. In the event the Kaagbaan Runway is unavailable, the Aalsmeerbaan Runway may be used for landing when there's a northerly wind and limited visibility.
Runway maintenance in 2023
In addition to the major maintenance on the Zwanenburgbaan Runway, there will be maintenance works on the other runways. Several changes have since been made to the runway maintenance schedule. You can find the schedule here.
Questions about air traffic?
If you would like to find out more about air traffic during the major maintenance on the Zwanenburgbaan Runway or the other periods of maintenance, please contact the Local Community Contact Centre (BAS) at bezoekbas.nl. You can check the page Is my house underneath a flight path? to see along which routes you can expect the planes.
Nitrogen enforcement request
The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality has received an enforcement request from Mobilisation for the Environment to halt runway maintenance. Their main reason is that maintenance causes changes to nitrogen emissions. The Ministry rejected the enforcement request.