We have been dealing with the consequences of the corona crisis for over a year now and we are not there yet. Many industries have been hit hard by the corona crisis. The aviation industry has also been hit hard by the consequences of the corona crisis. Every now and then we see a plane landing and taking off from our editorial office next to the airport. 

What about the fire brigade at Eindhoven Airport? Do they still have a job now that it is so extremely quiet with airplanes due to the consequences of the corona crisis? And is the military airbase also quiet compared to before the corona crisis? What are the daily activities of the fire brigade at Eindhoven Airport? We put these questions to Major Agerbeek, he is Commander Airport service and responsible for providing services such as fire brigade, air traffic control, landing area management, meteorology and bird strike prevention at Eindhoven Air Base.

"Eindhoven Airport is an airport with a special character, namely a military airbase with civilian joint use. This civilian joint use includes Eindhoven Airport. As a co-user, Eindhoven Airport provides commercial air traffic, but because they use the infrastructure of a military airbase, the support services are therefore often provided by the Royal Netherlands Air Force. This also includes the fire brigade ”"

The corona crisis has hit commercial aviation hard, but military aviation has continued. Not entirely undisturbed, because within this area too, they face challenges and precautions as a result of the pandemic. The military flight movements at the military airbase have been maintained. That is also good, given that military aviation must be something that international society must be able to count on in times of crisis. That is also the reason that the airport fire brigade still has its work here. In the past year with a different relationship in customer demand than in previous years.

“The fire brigade at Eindhoven Air Base therefore provides so-called“ aircraft firefighting ”as one of their two main tasks for both civil and military air traffic at the airport. The second main task of the fire service is “basic fire service care”, in other words protecting the buildings on the air base from a preventive as well as repressive point of view. This task has also remained unchanged as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether there is a lot or little air traffic at the airport and whether there are many or few people in the buildings at the airbase, the fire brigade ensures safety at all times and is therefore fully manned 24/7 ”

Whereas during 'normal' years the airport has a traffic composition that mainly consists of civil aviation (civil aviation), military aviation predominated in the past year. Number 1 of the main tasks of the fire brigade at Eindhoven Air Base is “aviation firefighting”. Number 2 of the main tasks is “basic fire service” or the fire protection of the buildings at the air base, both preventively and repressively. These 2 main tasks have remained unchanged despite the corona pandemic. Whether there are many or few people in the buildings, the fire brigade must always ensure safety and is therefore fully manned 24/7.

Also read: Still quite a lot of private flights during the corona crisis 

Eindhoven Airport in corona time
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