History
Twente Airport was opened July 1931 by the mayor of Enschede, Edo Bergsma. KLM started a scheduled flight to Amsterdam in 1932, which was suspended in 1939. During World War II the German Luftwaffe took over the airport and made it a military airbase, renaming it Fliegerhorst Twente. In April 1945 allied troops reoccupied the airport and transferred ownership to the Dutch armed forces. A minor typo in the deed misspelled the airport name as Airbase Twenthe, with an added 'h'.
After World War II the airport became a "joint use airport", with both civil and military use.
For civil operations the airport has been renamed to Enschede Airport Twente, run by the privately held company Enschede Airport Twente BV.
On 7 December 2007 military use of the airport ceased. As of 1 January 2008 the airport has been closed for civil aviation as well, pending governmental agreement on the future of the airport. On 16 June 2010 the province of Overijssel agreed on a spatial plan including an airport.
On 1 December 2010 the ownership of the airport grounds has been transferred to the Twente region and the city of Enschede. Though it was attempted to find a party interested in operating the airport commercially, it was announced on 4 December 2012 that despite three parties showing interest in this proposal, none of them made a bid to operate it. The future of the airport remains uncertain.
Read more about this topic: Enschede Airport Twente
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