NOS News•
Air traffic at Eindhoven Airport has been stopped twice today due to understaffing with the air traffic control. Dozens of flights have therefore left with a delay. It is expected that even more flights are delayed or can be canceled. Upcoming flights may result in other airports.
According to a spokesperson for the airport, both interruptions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, lasted an hour. Flights from Ryanair, Transavia and Wizz Air, among others, suffered from that. It is not clear whether air traffic should be stopped again later in the day.
Military air traffic control
The staff shortage does not play in the Traffic Tower at Eindhoven Air Base, where Eindhoven Airport is located, but at the umbrella military air traffic control at Schiphol-Oost.
“That is the national air traffic control for all the air traffic of Defense. Because Eindhoven Airport is active at a military airport, the civil aviation is also coordinated by them here,” the spokesperson explains.
Military air traffic control has been a staff shortage for years. It is not the first time that the civil aviation at Eindhoven Airport is also affected by it. “It is always looked at how to limit the impact of any understaffing, but today that has unfortunately had too little effect,” said the spokesperson.
The airport assumes that the flight schedules of airlines are disturbed by the problems for the rest of the day. Passengers are advised to keep an eye on the Eindhoven Airport website and to contact the airline for questions.