The Brussels Government is not ruling out taking legal action if the next environmental permit for Brussels Airport – which is in the hands of the Flemish Government – does not better protect people living in the capital from noise pollution.
The Brussels Government approved the Region's opinion on the request for renewal of the environmental permit for Brussels Airport – located just outside of Brussels, in the Zaventem municipality in Flanders. The application submitted to a public enquiry by the Flemish Region is "lacking," they said.
"The application to renew the licence and the accompanying impact study are totally inadequate, particularly as regards the evaluation of the airport's environmental impact," Environment Minister Alain Maron stated on behalf of the Brussels Government. "It is high time that local residents' health and well-being were protected, but no solutions to reduce air traffic nuisance have been put forward."
Noise pollution and disrupted sleep
The environmental permit needed to operate Brussels Airport in Zaventem will expire in July 2024. Brussels Airport Company submitted the application for renewal of its operating permit in early July last year.
Only Flanders can issue this permit as the airport infrastructure is located on its territory. However, several studies have shown that the airport's negative effects – such as noise pollution and disrupted sleep – go well beyond the Flemish municipalities, and have a very strong impact on Brussels.
Now, with the granting of the airport's new environmental permit, Maron stressed that the Flemish Region has "important levers at its disposal" to reduce the noise pollution caused by airport activities, which local residents have been suffering from "for too long."
An Easyjet aeroplane flying near Brussels Airport in Zaventem. Credit: Belga / Eric Lalmand
The permit contains conditions for the activities at the airport and aims to help reduce or prevent environmental damage. In the case of Brussels Airport, the granting of the permit establishes the framework for the airport's operation, such as the use of runways (take-off and landing, including taxiing and test flights), the number of permitted flights, night flights and aircraft types per year.
Additionally, the Flemish Region can also set an annual noise reduction target for the area around the airport. However, it cannot impose different flight routes or flight procedures, as that would fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government.
Abolishing night flights
"We note that the impact study supporting the permit application is not thorough enough for the Flemish Region to make an informed decision on the renewal of Brussels Airport's environmental permit," Maron said. He added that the previously communicated requests by the Brussels Government to protect the health and well-being of local residents have not been taken into account.
"We ask for more respect for the real, daily concerns of the thousands of people living near the airport in Brussels, Flanders and Wallonia."
In particular, the Brussels Government requested that the new environmental permit limit the annual number of aircraft movements to 220,000, enforce compliance with Brussels noise standards to limit noise pollution, abolish night flights, and replace the fleet with quieter aircraft.
Maron also called the renewal of Brussels Airport's environmental permit "a unique opportunity" for Flemish Environment Minister Zuhal Demir to protect the health and well-being of all local residents "whether they are from Flanders, Brussels or Wallonia."
Credit: Belga / Eric Lalmand
If the airport's environmental licence is renewed on the basis of the documents subjected to a public enquiry by the Flemish Region, it is a missed opportunity for Maron. "Safeguarding the economic interests related to airport activity should not come at the expense of protecting the health and quality of life of local residents."
In December 2023, Maron asked Brussels Environment to inform Brussels residents of how they could make their voices heard in the context of the public enquiry launched by the Flemish Region on the airport's new permit. "The opinion of Brussels residents must be heard. The impact study must be revised to go further, and the future permit must guarantee strict new conditions to reduce air traffic nuisance significantly."
If the environmental permit does not go further and provide more guarantees for the protection of the health and welfare of local residents, the Brussels Government is "not ruling out" legal action.
Contacted for comment by The Brussels Times, Demir's office confirmed that the public inquiry has now ended and that all consultation responses and advice are currently being processed. "A decision cannot yet be pre-empted," spokesperson Andy Pieters said.
