Why do so many planes fly over Wintelre?

Wintelre sits just southwest of Eindhoven's single runway, and with prevailing southwest winds roughly 70% of departures use runway 21, climbing out to the southwest. Since the September 2014 'route 1B' change, departure tracks curve west close to the village, and residents have reported noticeably more overflights. Runway 03 arrivals also approach from this side. Drop a pin on the map above to see exact counts for any address in the village.

Which areas around Eindhoven Airport are quietest?

Places off the runway 03/21 axis do best — Oirschot to the northwest and inner-city Eindhoven districts like Strijp see far less direct overflight than Wintelre, Oerle, Zeelst, Meerhoven or Best. Because Eindhoven has one runway on a fixed southwest–northeast line, the loud and quiet zones are unusually predictable; the heatmap above shows the corridor clearly.

Why does Eindhoven Airport have military planes?

Eindhoven is legally a military airfield — Vliegbasis Eindhoven of the Royal Netherlands Air Force — and civil airlines operate as guests under an annual Defence co-use permit. The base hosts A330 MRTT air-to-air refuelling tankers and military transport aircraft, which fly outside civil permit hours, including at night. That's why residents sometimes hear large aircraft well after the 11 PM civil cut-off.

Is Eindhoven Airport allowed to grow?

Not in movements. Civil traffic has been capped at 41,500 movements per year — frozen at the 2019 level — since the Van Geel 'Proefcasus' advice switched the airport from growth targets to a noise-reduction steering model. The permitted civil noise area is also being ratcheted down (9.15 km² in 2023 to 8.9 km² from 2024) toward a target of 30% less noise burden by 2030 compared with 2019.

Do planes fly over Best and Son en Breugel?

Yes — Best sits under the northeast approach to runway 21, the arrival stream for roughly 70% of landings, and under runway 03 departures. Son en Breugel, further out on the same axis, gets runway 21 arrivals descending overhead and runway 03 departures climbing toward it. Arrival noise here is a steady descent profile rather than the louder climb-out heard southwest of the field.

Are Sunday mornings quieter at Eindhoven Airport?

Yes, by rule. The civil co-use permit limits early Sunday departures — at most six between 7:00 and 7:30 AM (averaging about four per Sunday over the year), with only limited extra room before 8 AM — so Sunday mornings are noticeably calmer than weekdays, when the first departure bank starts at 7 AM sharp.

Eindhoven Flight Path Noise Map – Eindhoven Airport (EIN)

Name: Aircraft noise observations near Eindhoven Airport
Creator: Flight Path Noise
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Aircraft noise around Eindhoven in October 2026

Loudest neighborhoods near Eindhoven: Wintelre, Meerhoven (Eindhoven), Zeelst (Veldhoven), Oerle (Veldhoven), Best. Quietest: Oirschot, Strijp (Eindhoven). Busiest around noon local time averaging 185 flights/day. Source: Flight Path Noise monitoring data, 30 days to 2026-10-19.

Flights by hour · last 30 days

12a6a12p6p

Average daily traffic

185

flights / day · 5,543 total

Busiest hour

noon

peak 93 dB

Loudest hour

9 AM

peak 94 dB

Loudest residential area

Wintelre

75 dB avg · ~136 flights/day · Loud conversation

Village just southwest of the runway; runway 21 departures curve west nearby (residents report noticeably more overflights since the 2014 route 1B change), plus runway 03 arrivals from the southwest

Does Eindhoven Airport have a curfew?

Yes — for airlines. No scheduled civil operations 11 PM – 7 AM; military flights are exempt.

Eindhoven is legally a military airbase (Vliegbasis Eindhoven), and civil airlines fly under an annual Defence co-use permit that sets a hard operating window — civil traffic runs from 7 AM, and no civil landings may be scheduled after 11 PM. Delayed arrivals may still land between 11 PM and midnight under strict quotas — at most eight per day without justification, no more than two of them between 11:30 PM and midnight, and a cap of 50 such late-window landings per year. Sunday mornings get extra protection, with only a handful of departures allowed before 8 AM (at most six in the 7:00–7:30 window). The same permit freezes civil traffic at 41,500 movements a year — held at the 2019 level ever since — and shrinks the permitted civil noise footprint year on year (9.15 km² in 2023 down to 8.9 km² from 2024), implementing the Van Geel “Proefcasus” goal of 30% less noise by 2030. The one big caveat is that military flights — A330 MRTT tankers and transport aircraft of the Royal Netherlands Air Force — are not bound by the civil permit hours and can operate at night.

Eindhoven Airport (EIN/EHEH) is the Netherlands’ second-busiest airport with around 6.9 million passengers a year — but legally it is a military airbase, Vliegbasis Eindhoven, where civil airlines fly as guests under an annual Defence permit. That permit caps civil traffic at 41,500 movements a year (frozen at the 2019 level), bans scheduled civil landings after 11 PM, and shrinks the permitted civil noise footprint year on year — the direct legacy of Pieter van Geel’s 2019 “Proefcasus” advice, which switched the airport from growth targets to a 30%-less-noise-by-2030 steering model. The single 3,000 m runway (03/21) points southwest–northeast, so with prevailing southwest winds roughly 70% of traffic uses runway 21: departures climb out over Wintelre, Oerle and the Kempen villages while arrivals descend over Best and Son en Breugel. On top of the airline schedule, A330 MRTT tankers and military transports operate outside civil hours, giving villages like Wintelre and the Veldhoven and Meerhoven districts a noise mix few other Dutch communities experience.

Which neighborhoods are quietest — and which aren’t

Everything at Eindhoven runs over one asphalt runway, 03/21 (~3,000 m), aligned southwest–northeast about 7 km west of the city centre. That single fixed axis makes the noise geography unusually predictable: the loudest places are strung along the runway line and its immediate flanks, and exposure falls away quickly to the northwest and southeast of it.

Area	Aircraft noise	Why
Wintelre	✈︎✈︎✈︎	Runway 21 departures curve west nearby; runway 03 arrivals overhead
Meerhoven (Eindhoven)	✈︎✈︎✈︎	Built directly east of the airfield; apron and sideline noise
Zeelst (Veldhoven)	✈︎✈︎✈︎	Under the runway 21 climb-out and ground-noise footprint
Oerle (Veldhoven)	✈︎✈︎✈︎	Almost on the extended runway 21 centreline
Best	✈︎✈︎✈︎	Under the approach for ~70% of landings, plus runway 03 departures
Knegsel	✈︎✈︎	Under the southwest departure/arrival axis
Son en Breugel	✈︎✈︎	Runway 21 arrivals descend overhead; runway 03 departures
Eersel	✈︎✈︎	Outbound runway 21 axis at moderate altitude
Acht (Eindhoven)	✈︎✈︎	East of the runway 03 climb-out; turning traffic
Achtse Barrier	✈︎✈︎	Under northeast-side arrival and departure tracks
Woensel-Noord	✈︎✈︎	Overflown by northeast-side traffic
Veldhoven centrum	✈︎✈︎	Borders the noise contour east of the departure line
Oirschot	✈︎	Off the main axis; mostly turning traffic and military circuits
Strijp (Eindhoven)	✈︎	Off-axis; crosswind legs and ground noise only

The pattern is worth spelling out because it surprises house-hunters: the small Kempen villages southwest of the field (Wintelre, Oerle, Knegsel) and the Veldhoven quarters just southeast of it (Zeelst, Meerveldhoven) carry more of the burden than most of Eindhoven city itself. Meerhoven is the exception — a large, new Eindhoven district built right against the eastern airfield boundary, where apron and runway sideline noise matters as much as overflight. On the northeast side, Best takes the steady arrival stream, and the Woensel districts of northern Eindhoven (Acht, Achtse Barrier, Woensel-Noord) sit under the runway 03 climb-out and arrival joins — their residents’ platforms are among the airport’s most persistent critics. If you’re weighing an address anywhere along this axis, drop a pin on the map above to see flight counts and noise levels for that exact spot.

Flight patterns and runway use

Prevailing southwest winds make runway 21 the preferred direction, with a planning ratio of roughly 70% runway 21 / 30% runway 03 — the split used to calculate the airport’s legal noise contour, with actual monthly usage published on samenopdehoogte.nl. On runway 21, departures climb out to the southwest over Oerle and Knegsel toward Eersel, with departure routes curving west near Wintelre — the September 2014 “route 1B” change moved tracks closer to the village, and residents have reported noticeably more overflights since. Arrivals to runway 21 descend from the northeast over Best and Son en Breugel.

When the wind swings and runway 03 takes over, the pattern reverses: arrivals come in low from the southwest over the Kempen villages, and departures head northeast over Best, Son en Breugel and the northern Eindhoven districts (Acht, Achtse Barrier, Woensel-Noord).

The military overlay is what makes Eindhoven unusual. The base hosts the RNLAF’s A330 MRTT multi-role tanker fleet and military transport aircraft, and these flights fall outside the civil permit — they can and do operate at hours when airline traffic is banned. A heavy four-engine or widebody movement late at night is almost certainly military, not a delayed holiday charter. Flight tracks and complaints for both civil and military traffic are logged in the ANOMS noise-and-track monitoring system, which residents can access via samenopdehoogte.nl.

When is it quietest?

The civil permit gives Eindhoven a firmer daily rhythm than most airports its size:

11 PM – 7 AM: no scheduled civil operations. Delayed arrivals may land until midnight under strict quotas (at most eight per day, no more than two after 11:30 PM, 50 late-window landings per year), after which civil traffic stops entirely until 7 AM.
7 AM – 9 AM: the first departure bank — the densest stretch of the day, as the low-cost schedule pushes out its morning wave.
Midday: sustained but moderate rotations.
Late afternoon – evening: arrival and departure banks overlap; the last arrivals aim to be on the ground before 11 PM.
Sunday mornings: protected by rule — at most six departures between 7:00 and 7:30 AM (about four per Sunday averaged over the year) and only limited extra room before 8 AM, so Sundays start noticeably calmer than weekdays.

Two caveats. First, military flights are exempt from all of the above, so occasional night movements do happen. Second, wind direction matters more than the clock for where the noise lands: a southwest-wind day concentrates departures over Wintelre and Oerle, while a northeast-wind day shifts the burden to Best and northern Eindhoven. The pin-drop tool above breaks down the hourly profile for any address.

How to check noise at your specific address

The map above answers “how loud is this spot?” in three steps:

Search your address or postcode in the bar at the bottom of the map.
Drop a pin — click the location marker that appears.
Read the noise report that opens in the sidebar: average daily noise (Leq), peak observed dB, flights per day passing within 2 km, and an hourly breakdown.

The Noise Heatmap layer (orange/red = louder) and the Route Density layer (purple/magenta = busier corridors) make Eindhoven’s single-axis pattern obvious: one bright southwest–northeast band through Wintelre, the airfield and Best, fading fast on either side. Most addresses in central and southern Eindhoven land in the quiet zone; the villages and districts along the runway line are where a street-by-street check genuinely pays off.

Frequently asked questions

Why do so many planes fly over Wintelre?: Wintelre sits just southwest of Eindhoven's single runway, and with prevailing southwest winds roughly 70% of departures use runway 21, climbing out to the southwest. Since the September 2014 'route 1B' change, departure tracks curve west close to the village, and residents have reported noticeably more overflights. Runway 03 arrivals also approach from this side. Drop a pin on the map above to see exact counts for any address in the village.
Which areas around Eindhoven Airport are quietest?: Places off the runway 03/21 axis do best — Oirschot to the northwest and inner-city Eindhoven districts like Strijp see far less direct overflight than Wintelre, Oerle, Zeelst, Meerhoven or Best. Because Eindhoven has one runway on a fixed southwest–northeast line, the loud and quiet zones are unusually predictable; the heatmap above shows the corridor clearly.
Why does Eindhoven Airport have military planes?: Eindhoven is legally a military airfield — Vliegbasis Eindhoven of the Royal Netherlands Air Force — and civil airlines operate as guests under an annual Defence co-use permit. The base hosts A330 MRTT air-to-air refuelling tankers and military transport aircraft, which fly outside civil permit hours, including at night. That's why residents sometimes hear large aircraft well after the 11 PM civil cut-off.
Is Eindhoven Airport allowed to grow?: Not in movements. Civil traffic has been capped at 41,500 movements per year — frozen at the 2019 level — since the Van Geel 'Proefcasus' advice switched the airport from growth targets to a noise-reduction steering model. The permitted civil noise area is also being ratcheted down (9.15 km² in 2023 to 8.9 km² from 2024) toward a target of 30% less noise burden by 2030 compared with 2019.
How do I report aircraft noise from Eindhoven Airport?: Use 'Samen op de hoogte' (samenopdehoogte.nl), the joint reporting bureau for Eindhoven Airport and Vliegbasis Eindhoven. Reports are logged in the ANOMS noise-and-track monitoring system, and the same site publishes actual monthly runway use and flight tracks. Escalation runs via the Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport.
Do planes fly over Best and Son en Breugel?: Yes — Best sits under the northeast approach to runway 21, the arrival stream for roughly 70% of landings, and under runway 03 departures. Son en Breugel, further out on the same axis, gets runway 21 arrivals descending overhead and runway 03 departures climbing toward it. Arrival noise here is a steady descent profile rather than the louder climb-out heard southwest of the field.
Which runway does Eindhoven Airport use most?: There is only one runway — 03/21, about 3,000 m long, oriented southwest–northeast. Prevailing southwest winds make runway 21 the preferred direction, with a planning ratio of roughly 70% runway 21 to 30% runway 03 used to calculate the legal noise contour. Actual monthly usage is published on samenopdehoogte.nl.
Are Sunday mornings quieter at Eindhoven Airport?: Yes, by rule. The civil co-use permit limits early Sunday departures — at most six between 7:00 and 7:30 AM (averaging about four per Sunday over the year), with only limited extra room before 8 AM — so Sunday mornings are noticeably calmer than weekdays, when the first departure bank starts at 7 AM sharp.

Sources and further reading

Vergunning burgermedegebruik militaire luchthaven Eindhoven (Staatscourant) — Dutch Government Gazette / Ministry of Defence
Vergunning burgermedegebruik Eindhoven Airport 2026 — Eindhoven Airport
Baangebruik (runway use explanation) — Samen op de hoogte (Luchthaven Eindhoven Overleg)
Van Geel over toekomst Eindhoven Airport — "minder geluid vanaf 2020" — Proefcasus Eindhoven Airport
Omgeving Vliegbasis Eindhoven — Netherlands Ministry of Defence
Eindhoven Airport — Wikipedia — Wikipedia

Data updated 2026-10-19 — live ADS-B monitoring, rolling 30-day statistics (methodology). Article text revised 2026-07-17.

30 dB	Whisper
45 dB	Quiet residential
55 dB	Normal conversation
65 dB	Busy road
75 dB	Vacuum cleaner
85 dB	Heavy traffic
95 dB	Motorcycle nearby

Flight Noise

Layers

Live Tracking

Filters

Saved Pins

Flight Noise — User Manual

What is this?

Live Tracking

Heatmap

Flight Paths

Point Analysis

Noise Level Reference

Filters

Tips

Share this map

Pins shared with you

Eindhoven Flight Path Noise Map – Eindhoven Airport (EIN)

Aircraft noise around Eindhoven in October 2026

Does Eindhoven Airport have a curfew?

Which neighborhoods are quietest — and which aren’t

Flight patterns and runway use

When is it quietest?

How to check noise at your specific address

Frequently asked questions

Sources and further reading

Other airports we track

🇦🇺 Adelaide, Australia

🇪🇸 Alicante, Spain

🇳🇱 Amsterdam, Netherlands

🇦🇺 Archerfield, Australia

🇬🇷 Athens, Greece

🇺🇸 Atlanta, USA

🇳🇿 Auckland, New Zealand

🇺🇸 Austin, USA

🇮🇩 Bali, Indonesia

🇦🇺 Ballina, Australia

🇺🇸 Baltimore, USA

🇮🇳 Bangalore, India

🇹🇭 Bangkok, Thailand

🇦🇺 Bankstown, Australia

🇪🇸 Barcelona, Spain

🇫🇷 Basel, France

🇱🇧 Beirut, Lebanon

🇬🇧 Belfast City, UK

🇩🇪 Berlin, Germany

🇪🇸 Bilbao, Spain

🇨🇦 Billy Bishop, Canada

🇬🇧 Birmingham, UK

🇨🇴 Bogotá, Colombia

🇺🇸 Boston, USA

🇦🇺 Brisbane, Australia

🇬🇧 Bristol, UK

🇧🇪 Brussels, Belgium

🇧🇪 Brussels Charleroi, Belgium

🇭🇺 Budapest, Hungary

🇦🇷 Buenos Aires, Argentina

🇦🇺 Canberra, Australia

🇿🇦 Cape Town, South Africa

🇨🇴 Cartagena, Colombia

🇺🇸 Charlotte, USA

🇹🇭 Chiang Mai, Thailand

🇺🇸 Chicago, USA

🇺🇸 Chicago O'Hare, USA

🇳🇿 Christchurch, New Zealand

🇩🇪 Cologne, Germany

🇩🇰 Copenhagen, Denmark

🇵🇪 Cusco, Peru

🇻🇳 Da Nang, Vietnam

🇺🇸 Dallas, USA

🇮🇳 Delhi, India

🇺🇸 Denver, USA

🇺🇸 Detroit, USA

🇺🇸 DFW, USA

🇶🇦 Doha, Qatar

🇹🇭 Don Mueang, Thailand

🇦🇪 Dubai, UAE

🇮🇪 Dublin, Ireland

🇩🇪 Düsseldorf, Germany

🇬🇧 Edinburgh, UK

🇵🇹 Faro, Portugal

Adelaide, Australia

Alicante, Spain

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Archerfield, Australia

Athens, Greece

Atlanta, USA

Auckland, New Zealand

Austin, USA

Bali, Indonesia

Ballina, Australia

Baltimore, USA

Bangalore, India

Bangkok, Thailand

Bankstown, Australia

Barcelona, Spain

Basel, France

Beirut, Lebanon

Belfast City, UK

Berlin, Germany

Bilbao, Spain

Billy Bishop, Canada

Birmingham, UK

Bogotá, Colombia

Boston, USA

Brisbane, Australia

Bristol, UK

Brussels, Belgium

Brussels Charleroi, Belgium

Budapest, Hungary

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Canberra, Australia

Cape Town, South Africa

Cartagena, Colombia

Charlotte, USA

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Chicago, USA

Chicago O'Hare, USA

Christchurch, New Zealand

Cologne, Germany

Copenhagen, Denmark

Cusco, Peru

Da Nang, Vietnam

Dallas, USA

Delhi, India

Denver, USA

Detroit, USA

DFW, USA

Doha, Qatar

Don Mueang, Thailand

Dubai, UAE

Dublin, Ireland

Düsseldorf, Germany

Edinburgh, UK

Faro, Portugal

Florence, Italy

Fort Lauderdale, USA

Frankfurt, Germany

Funchal, Portugal

Gatwick, UK

Geneva, Switzerland

Glasgow, UK

Gold Coast, Australia

Hamburg, Germany

Hanoi, Vietnam

Heathrow, UK

Helsinki, Finland

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Hobart, Australia

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Honolulu, USA

Houston, USA

Houston IAH, USA

Ibiza, Spain

Jandakot, Australia

John Wayne, USA

Kathmandu, Nepal

Keflavík, Iceland

Kraków, Poland

Las Vegas, USA

LAX, USA