Overview
- Pieter van Oord said on NPO Radio 1 that if holiday flights are not allowed at Lelystad Airport, the Defence Ministry would need to buy the site from Royal Schiphol Group for more than €1 billion.
- He stressed Schiphol is not mandated to run military airbases and that exclusive military use would require a transfer or expropriation of the airport.
- Van Oord pointed to support in Flevoland and the city of Lelystad for basing F-35s on the condition that the airport also opens to civil traffic to deliver jobs.
- The government has not confirmed any buyout figure; a €1 billion amount was raised in September’s parliamentary debate, and State Secretary Gijs Tuinman called it a significant sum.
- Minister Robert Tieman said he is still working toward a political decision this year, with coalition parties divided and earlier motions opposing both opening the airport and coupling the F-35 decision to holiday flights.