Schiphol will carry out major maintenance on the Zwanenburg runway from next Monday, 2 January, until mid-April. During this work, the runway will not be available for air traffic. As a result, other jobs have to be used more often.
The Zwanenburgbaan was built in the 60s. During the major maintenance, work is carried out together with contractor Heijmans that are necessary once every 40 to 60 years. During the maintenance period, the asphalt, the size of 86 football pitches, will be completely renewed.
Schiphol is also renewing 12,000 square metres of markings on the runway and replacing 6 kilometres of gutters and exits on and around the runway. All trackside lighting will be replaced by a more durable and reliable LED lighting installation. This concerns almost 6,400 lamps.
In addition, the runway station and the rainwater drainage system will be completely renovated.
Adapted runway use
The aircraft that normally take off or land from or on the Zwanenburg runway will make more use of the Buitenveldert runway in the coming months. The Schiphol-Oost runway can also be used as an airstrip and a small part of the flights will be moved to the Kaagbaan.
Work on the landing system
During and after major maintenance, Air Traffic Control the Netherlands (LVNL) replaces the Instrument Landing System (ILS) of the Zwanenburg runway. An ILS ensures that aircraft are supported to descend at a gradual angle to the runway.
After the major maintenance – mid-April – the Zwanenburg runway can be used again as a runway, except in poor visibility. Then it is not possible to land from the south in the period up to six weeks after the end of the maintenance (expected until the end of June).
A number of activities on the ILS, such as measurements to check the proper functioning of the system, can only be carried out after the major maintenance has been completed. During these measurements on the runway and from the air with a measuring aircraft, the runway is not available for air traffic. The measurements take several hours at a time and are planned during the day and at night on a number of days in May. The exact days and times will be announced later.
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