Much criticism of the Belgian minister’s plan to ban night flights at Brussels Airport

Gilkinet (a member of Ecolo, GroenLinks of Wallonia) wants to reduce noise nuisance from the airport by 20 percent. Divided, that means 20 percent less in the morning (between 6 and 7 am), 7 percent less during the day (between 7 am and 9 pm), 30 percent less in the evening (between 9 and 11 pm) and 100 percent lower at night (between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.), writes VRT.

Mornings, evenings and weekends, old and noisy planes will not be welcomed at Brussels Airport. This concerns, for example, the oldest versions of the Airbus A330, Airbus A320, Boeing 737, Boeing 767 and Boeing 747.

“I do this in the general interest of all the local population, be it Flemish, Brussels or Walloon, and with respect for the economic interests of the airport and the 65,000 people who work there,” Gilkennet says. In his own words, the minister wants to avoid “Brussels becoming Europe’s hype dumpster”.

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The plans of the green minister, long known for his critical stance on aviation, should go into effect in October 2024, but the question is whether that will happen. Not only from the aviation and opposition sectors, but also from his coalition partners in the Belgian government.

For example, the Open VLD (Flemish D66) says that this is an individual position for a minister, not a government position. An MP said: “Anyone who wants to ban night flights without further ado is playing with our prosperity. For every two planes that don’t land here, we lose one full-time job. Day in and day out. This is completely irresponsible.” Tim Vandeput.

Another coalition partner, CD&V (Flemish CDA), also reacts negatively. Party leader Sami Mahdi talks about “green madness and practically de-growth.” “This will be the end of Zaventem as the largest logistics center in Europe for medical and pharmaceutical products,” Mahdi wrote on Twitter.

Brussels Airport is also not happy with the plan. “This is happening without any consultation or coordination with the airport and the aviation sector,” the airport told VRT. Also, the European measure to impose operating restrictions has not been respected at all.”

So convincing his coalition partners of the plan will be a big job for Minister Gilkinet. If this succeeds, a European procedure must first be followed.