Gilkinet forced to back down on DHL’s Boeing 777-night flights ban

The ministerial instruction of outgoing Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) preventing the use of Boeing 777 aircraft at Brussels Airport at night has been suspended.  The Minister said this in the Parliamentary Committee on Mobility. If consultations with the Flemish government come to nothing, it will be up to the next federal government to resolve the issue, Gilkinet said.

According to several political parties, Gilkinet overstepped his bounds by dealing with the dossier in ongoing business. Several MPs pointed to a letter from resigning Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, which the press agency Belga was able to see, showing that he too opposes the instruction because it would not belong in a period of ongoing business.

The House services are now investigating whether the minister could effectively take the decision in current affairs.

Fearing job losses

The instruction stipulated that the legislation on noise pollution at Brussels Airport, also known as Zaventem Airport, had to be followed. The exception that had applied for the past ten years to German parcel supplier DHL’s Boeing 777 aircraft – which officially exceed the maximum noise quota – would therefore expire, preventing DHL from using them at night.

Fearing job losses at the airport, although it is contradicted by a study, the Flemish government filed a conflict of interest lawsuit at the beginning of this month. However, according to Flemish Periphery Minister Ben Weyts (N-VA), DHL should never load those aircraft full, and therefore they are quieter than the alternatives.

Brussels Airport is in the Flemish Region but falls under the jurisdiction of the federal government as far as individual aircraft noise levels are concerned and depends on noise standards in the Brussels Region for flight paths.

“Appoint an intendant”

Meanwhile, on vrt.new, the Bond Beter Leefmilieu (BBL) is calling on negotiators for a new federal government to appoint an intendant for Brussels Airport. This independent party would have to find a solution to the nuisance caused by the airport, in consultation with the municipalities involved, residents’ groups and the aviation industry. According to the BBL, this is the only way to get the dossier out of the legal quagmire it has been in for some 25 years.

The organization also refers again to a study by the European NGO Transport & Environment showing that due to ultrafine dust, some 7,500 residents develop diabetes, nearly 500 face early dementia and some 7,000 suffer from hypertension. Some 100,000 airport residents also have sleep problems and 50,000 suffer from cardiovascular disease.