The Netherlands planning North Sea International Airport

Because of the expected rise of the sea level and the need to create space for man and nature in the over-populated western part of the Netherlands, Royal Haskoning and Van Oord have been studying for a few months the possibilities of large scale Dutch coastal expansion and an airport situated in the North Sea.

The airport is planned to have three 6 kilometres large basins with six floating and rotating airstrips. This revolutionary idea would provide maximum access for airplanes regardless of the direction of the wind. There would be three terminal buildings, connected to Schiphol (Amsterdam’s international airport) by a 16 minutes long MagLev (magnet levitation train). The airport would be 20 kilometres away from the shore.

Let’s remember the Netherlands are the world leaders in the field of delta technology.

However, a similar proposal had been rejected by the Dutch government as too expensive in 1999, and this project would cost €90 billion. The project should take aver 25 years and 3.8 billion cubic meters of sand will be used.

It is predicted that the Netherlands will lose 8 % of their land to the sea. This is why the coast will be moved about three kilometers to the west. This extension will bring money, as “when one third of the new land will be build upon, that will pay for the rest”.

Royal Haskoning and Van Oord are also working together on the realization of the Palm islands in Dubai.