Ecolo comes up with a radical proposal to reduce noise nuisance around Zaventem airport. Gilkinet wants to scrap all night flights from the winter of 2024. In concrete terms, this means that no more aircraft are allowed to land or take off between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. In the evenings, between 9 and 11 p.m., noise nuisance must also be reduced by 30 percent.
“Our proposal is fully in line with the coalition agreement,” says Gilkinet. The federal government had agreed to realize a solution for the noise nuisance. The solution is crystal clear for Ecolo: no flights, no noise. It’s that simple.
The number of flights must also be reduced during the day. According to Gilkinet, his proposal is the only way to guarantee the peace and quality of life of local residents. The intervention is also essential to make the airport and the 64,000 jobs associated with it more sustainable, it sounds. Yesterday, the Ecolo minister presented his plan to the other Vivaldi cabinets for the first time.
It was shot right there. At Open Vld it sounds that this is not a government position. “If we do this, there are 14,000 direct and indirect jobs at risk of being lost.” The same sound in the parliamentary party of the liberals. “A total ban on night flights is economic madness. Unworldly”, says Tim Vandenput, Member of Parliament and resident of the Rand.
The environmental movement is pleased. “This is a milestone for the health of local residents. And a great first step towards the sustainable and future-oriented management of our national airport”, says Bond Beter Leefmilieu (BBL) in a jubilant press release.
Durant
For more than twenty years, the Flemish and Brussels governments have been bickering about the noise nuisance caused by air traffic to and from Zaventem airport. The file was passed from government to government all the while. A solution was never found.
For example, around the turn of the century there was the failed attempt by former Minister of Mobility Isabelle Durant (Ecolo) to abolish night flights. And a study ordered by the former Minister of Mobility François Bellot (MR) to get an objective look at the problem once and for all. It was contested first by the Brussels and then by the Flemish government.
The Flemish government is aware of Gilkinet’s proposal. It was immediately swept off the table there too. “You can also close the airport completely, then even more nuisance will disappear – but unfortunately also an economic growth engine of Flanders and Brussels. According to Mr Gilkinet, aren’t there enough unemployed people in Brussels yet?” responds Minister Ben Weyts (N-VA).
The city council of Brussels passed a motion on Monday evening to ban night flights above Brussels and to limit noise nuisance from flights to and from Zaventem airport. It is an initiative of Didier Wauters (Les Engagés, formerly cdH).
The Flemish employers’ organization VOKA is reacting furiously. “There is no question of abolishing night flights. It is an insane idea that should be thrown straight into the trash”, says managing director Hans Maertens.
Brussels Airport Company made a profit of 16 million euros last year. It was the first profit in three years for the operator of the airport in Zaventem, after the difficult corona years.
DHL response
DHL responds to yet another political bubble in a file with precarious balances. “We very much regret the balloon approach and loose proposals, which are at odds with the European policy framework.”
“The Belgian aviation sector, our employees and local residents have been regularly the plaything of various political proposals for more than twenty years, while everyone benefits only from an honest dialogue and clarity,” it sounds. “A hefty and isolated proposal does not bring that clarity and inhibits sustainable investments. It can cause unrest and polarization, but not solutions.”
