This is the eighth story of the '#We are Eindhoven Airport' campaign. Every month we publish a new story on this page featuring an airport staff member, followed a week later by a podcast created by Summa Aviation Services.

Securing the airport including the passengers, visitors, suppliers and employees, checking passports, checking unattended luggage and tracing the owner and, above all, anticipating all possible situations that may arise. That sums up the work of master warrant officer Ruud de Laat of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee (Dutch military police) at Eindhoven Airport. In addition to his operational tasks, he is team leader of explosives. Furthermore, as one of the sixteen group commanders at the airport, he coaches and trains about ten Marechaussee staff.

Ruud has worked at the airport for some 22 years and has seen pretty much everything. From passengers being fined for carrying prohibited weapons to passengers caught with false passports and sent to jail, to collectors involved in the trafficking of women. Ruud: “You experience all kinds of things here. And it is precisely this variation in work, the people and the situations that makes the job so fantastic.” Work is more like a hobby for Ruud. “No, I'll never leave the airport again.”  

Every day is different for the master warrant officer but there's one common thread every day. Ruud: “It's essential to always think ahead about what could happen. When there are delays, for example, people have a shorter fuse. You factor that in when you approach them. Ruud and his colleagues from the Marechaussee work closely together with the staff of security company G4S, ground handling agent Viggo, and Eindhoven Airport. “G4S calls us in when they see during the security check that a passenger is carrying prohibited weapons, drugs or large sums of money. It's then our task to confiscate those goods, contact the Public Prosecutor regarding the legal punishment or trace where the money came from.”

During passport control, for example, the Marechaussee checks whether the traveller has been reported before and therefore is not allowed to enter the Schengen area, or whether he has outstanding fines that need to be paid before leaving the country. Unattended luggage also gives Ruud and his colleagues quite a bit of work. “We trace whose suitcase it is and always stay vigilant because you never know what's inside.” Ruud also takes action if there is a suspicion that luggage contains an explosive or explosive material. He is consulted, the explosives expert is called in and, if necessary, Ruud arranges for the explosives dog to assist. Fortunately, this doesn't happen very often. Thanks in part to the efforts of the Marechaussee, many potentially dangerous situations are prevented. “We anticipate, talk, mediate and help people.”   

Listen here to the podcast ‘Ready for Take-Off’ of Summa Aviation Services on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.     #weareeindhovenairport