The Dutch government has prevented the commencement of flights from Eindhoven to Caribbean states, filing a bill that states that flights to and from Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, St. Maarten and Venezuela can only use Amsterdam Schiphol Schiphol. Emergencies and military charters are exempt from the bill.
The government began preparing legislation in mid-2015 to prevent Caribbean flights from using Eindhoven, which does not have sufficient security facilities to process 'high risk' flights. The Netherlands operates a 100% control policy on incoming flights from the Caribbean in an effort to curb drug trafficking. Checks may include sniffer dogs, x-rays and full body searches. At that time, TUI fly (Netherlands) (OR, Amsterdam Schiphol) (then Arke Fly) moved its proposed scheduled Antilles flights to Schiphol in anticipation of the new legislation.
Rather than upgrade Eindhoven's security facilities to accommodate 'high risk' flights, the bill restricts them to Schiphol. It states that "operations under the so-called '100% control regime' are not allowed to land at airports other than Schiphol, since at these airports insufficient staffing and equipment are available for a robust, secure and humane control and detection of drug smuggling." Equipping other Dutch airports to fulfil security criteria would require significant government investment.
Managing Director of TUIfly, Michiel Meijer, told Luchtvaartnieuws Magazine that there was still possibility for long haul flights from Eindhoven, and hopes that the government will reconsider enabling security checks. "There needs to be a budget to make that possible," he said.
