20 April 1945) 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group 155th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron (Night), F-3 (4 April 1945 – 10 July 1945) 387th Bombardment Group (Medium) 556, 557, 558 and 559th Squadrons, B-26 Marauder (4 May 1945) – 30 May 1945 After World War II Authority over what was to become known as Beek airfield (vliegveld Beek), was officially transferred to the Dutch government on 1 August 1945. It was decided to keep it open rather than re-open the pre-war debate over the location of an airport in the Maastricht area. The first civilian aircraft landed on 26 September 1945 and were operated by the Regeeringsvliegdienst, a government service with the purpose of carrying government officials and other people with urgent business, because the war had left many roads and railroads heavily damaged. The service used six de Havilland Dragon Rapides made available by the British government. In 1946, the service was taken over by KLM, using DC-3 Dakotas. However, as repairs to the Dutch infrastructure progressed, demand for the service dropped and it was stopped in 1949. The first semi-permanent airport terminal was completed in 1947. The runway was paved in 1949, and a second paved runway was completed in 1950. In 1951, an agreement between the airport and the Dutch Air Force allowed for rapid expansion of the facilities. Runway 04/22 was lengthened to 1,850 m (6,070 ft), and permanent runway lighting was installed in 1960. 1950s and 1960s The late 1950s and early 1960s brought significant expansion in commercial operations at the airport. Operators included KLM, Airnautical, Skytours, Euravia, Tradair and Transair. The airport was also used as an intermediate stop for services from London and Manchester to Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Yugoslavia. A local airline based at the airport, Limburg Airways, had a contract with the International Herald Tribune for distributing the newspaper's European edition, which was printed in Paris. Limburg Airways was taken over by Martin's Air Charter (now Martinair) in 1962. A promotion campaign by the Dutch tourist board for the nearby town of Valkenburg aan de Geul, aimed at British tourists, was highly successful and brought services by Invicta Airlines, Britannia and Channel Airways. Domestic travel picked up as well, and newly created NLM CityHopper started to operate a service between Maastricht and Amsterdam Schiphol in 1966. The service would continue after KLM acquired NLM in 1992, and would last until 2008. When it was