Lelystad airport has recently recorded a small increase in corporate traffic following the news that it is soon to have both its ILS and ATC available. Lelystad's Pieter der Ham told EBAN: "The ILS has been installed, is currently on test and will be in operation, as will ATC, as soon as Lelystad becomes controlled airspace. We expect that to happen in February of next year."

Also coming to Lelystad next year are mobile fuel units. A bowser for Jet A1 fuel, with a 10 cubic metre capacity, is expected to be in place by April.

Having renovated and grooved its main runway early this year, Lelystad can now see everything falling into place. However van der Ham is determined not to get too carried away, too early. He said: "We expect real growth in traffic not earlier than the beginning of next year. To be honest, our marketing efforts at the moment are very near to zero. We want everything in place and ready to go, before we start marketing again."

Behind the scenes therefore, Lelystad is now preparing all its new brochures, scheduling attendance at exhibitions next year, and has also become a member of the EBAA.

Van der Ham concluded: "In the future, you might see Lelystad as the second available terminal facility within the Amsterdam region. We must however be very careful. While Schiphol caters for 40 million passenger, Lelystad will never come near to that figure.

"However, we can offer a solution for general aviation and other flights because we are the only alternative to Schiphol in the Amsterdam region - with a travelling time to the city centre of just 35 to 40 minutes. Not including Amsterdam, we already have a catchment area of 3.5 million inhabitants so that makes us fairly attractive."