Part time job King of the Netherlands
The airbase is currently preparing for the arrival of the F-35A Lightning II (F-35) which is due to come to Volkel in 2022 to eventually replace the F-16. The first new F-35 is already at Leeuwarden airbase, which King Willem-Alexander visited on 6 November 2019. The Volkel airbase is one of the two so-called ‘Main Operating Bases’ of the Dutch Royal Air Force. Their main task is to provide air support and to defend the air space. Until the end of 2016, the Netherlands only guarded its own air space but since then Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg take turns defending each other’s air space. Two F-16 fighters are continually on standby in case of an immediate threat.
While it is no secret that Willem-Alexander is a qualified pilot who sometimes flew KLM passenger flights, it was not previously clear how frequently it happened. Willem-Alexander said he is rarely recognised by passengers, especially since security was tightened on board planes in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. “Before September 11, the cockpit door was open. People regularly came to have a look and thought it was nice or surprising that I was sitting there,” he said, adding that very few people recognise him as he walks through Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in KLM uniform and cap.
