Ameland

53°27'10"N 005°41'02"E

runway: 09/27 - 800x25meter/2,624x75feet - Grass

Ameland Airport (Dutch: Vliegveld Ameland, also known as Ameland Airport Ballum, ICAO: EHAL) is a small general aviation airport on the island of Ameland.
It is located in the province of Friesland and it is the northernmost airport in the country.
In a letter to the Mayor of Ameland Dutch national airline KLM suggested in the 1930s to build an airfield on Ameland Island to boost tourism, and relieve Ameland from it's isolation.
The letter started an investigation into the possibilities by the community and Rijkswaterstaat (the Civil Aviation Authority Netherlands of the Transport and Water Management Inspectorate) which lasted until 1938.
Because of World War II the project was shelved, but after the war, in August 1945 the Dutch Ministry of Defence pushed for an airfield too.
Construction started in December of that year, but it was not until 13 May 1957 that the grounds became an official aviation grounds by appointment of the Minister of Roads and Waterways.
The airport had already seen use before that though.

The airport has a single short grass runway and a helipad. The latter was mainly used for search and rescue (SAR) flights by AB Leeuwarden based 303 Sqn, until they stood down in 2014.
Customs services are not available, so no international flights are allowed except for those from other Schengen countries. The airport is used mainly for recreational purposes, so it is not open in winter (October 1 through the last day of March) unless prior arrangements are made.
About 5,500 airplane movements (takeoff or landing) are made at the airport each year. The airport is now a national airfield, with ICAO Cat 2B facilities.

Aeronautical chart from 2010, showing the two corridors that pilots can use to approach the island airport. The only other way to fly to Ameland is along the coast from either Den Helder/Texel or Germany.


Ballum airfieldphoto of hangar and tower on 28 April 2004 (Wikimedia).