At present, the airport can only be used in good weather conditions, especially when visibility is good. Due to poor weather conditions and reduced visibility and/or low cloud base, air traffic to Twente Airport has to divert relatively often. This severely limits the airport's accessibility and, therefore, its economic potential.
Accessibility will be greatly improved by the introduction of PBN routes. These routes will allow the airport to be used in poorer weather conditions, reducing the number of aircraft that have to divert to other airports. This will greatly improve the airport's operational capacity and economic condition. Even with PBN, the number of flight movements will remain within the current airport decree and within the opening hours of Twente Airport.
PBN application approved
At the end of 2025, the formal PBN application for Twente Airport was approved. In the coming years, work will be done on the various preparations necessary for the development of PBN routes. These are included in the Action Plan and the Participation Plan, which have been accepted by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.
In the coming period, the PBN concept route will be defined, with the aim of having at least one approach and departure route per runway side. Local residents and other parties involved with the airport will be informed of developments relevant to them via various means of communication, if necessary, based on the PBN routes yet to be determined.
Planning
The establishment of the PBN routes, the installation of the associated systems to enable satellite approaches, and the procedural set-up and preparation of the operation through various training courses are expected to take several years.
