Six Lufthansa Boeing 747s stuck at small airport in The Netherlands
Six Lufthansa Boeing 747-400s, parked long-term at Twente Airport, The Netherlands, are not allowed to take off again to their final dismantling destination. Since their landing back in July 2020, Dutch aviation authority ILT (Inspectie voor Leefomgeving en Transport) amended the airport’s permits.
“Originally, these aircraft were flown to Twente as the airport was one of the few airports available to store them,” airport CEO Meiltje de Groot said, “the aircraft would be parked until it became clear what would happen to them. We had hoped to dismantle the aircraft on our premises as specialised dismantling company AELS is located here.”
Those six Boeing 747-400’s are too big and too heavy to take off from this regional airport, thinks ILT: “Wide-body aircraft can land at Twente Airport, but only for dismantling.” The infrastructure and departure procedures have not been approved for wide-body operations, hence the Lufthansa aircraft are “legally stuck”.
Twente Airport and ILT are still discussing what should and can be done. The airport already started legal proceedings. If no decisions and agreements are made, the airport will initiate summary proceedings. The airport had already worked to meet the conditions of ILT. It is not yet known when the airport can meet the requirements.
