Belgian government condemned again for noise nuisance at Brussels Airport

For years, the Brussels Capital Region has been demanding compliance with Brussels noise standards to limit noise pollution at Brussels Airport. The French-speaking court of first instance in Brussels has once again condemned the Belgian state for the excessive nuisance caused by night flights over the capital.

At the same time, it increased the penalty payments for the most damaging flight routes and imposed a precise timetable for the federal government to end the violations.

Threat of total fine of €60 million

According to the court, the Canal Route, the Ring Road, and Runway 01 continue to cause unacceptable nuisance at night, with serious consequences for residents’ health.

The court now increases the penalty for the second time—the first dating back to June 2023—from 12,000 to 18,000 euros per serious exceedance (more than 5dB) compared to the referenced year 2017, with a maximum of €18 million per disputed route.

In addition, the verdict legitimizes the federal state with a precise timetable for the first time. Specifically, the final version of the ENVISA study on the environmental and noise pollution caused by the operation of Brussels Airport must be communicated by June 26th, 2026.

By October 1st, 2026, the concrete measures and deadlines to end the violations must be adopted and justified by December 1st. Any delay will be punished by a penalty of 10,000 euros per day, with a maximum of 2 million euros per deadline.

Minister Maron satisfied

Outgoing Brussels Environment and Health Minister Alain Maron (Ecolo) welcomes the court’s decision imposing clear deadlines on the federal government. “The health of Brussels residents and all people who are flown over must come first,” Maron said. “Now it is up to all parties in the federal government to take responsibility for validating this progress. It is time for the federal and Flemish governments to take up the public health and environmental challenges for more than a million Belgians affected by aircraft nuisance.”

In April last year, Maron also appealed against the environmental permit granted to the airport by Flanders. This permit does not ban night flights, but it does require the airport to reduce residents’ sleep disturbance by at least 30% by 2032. This will be achieved by imposing increasingly strict noise standards for weekend flights starting in 2026.

Series of legal causes

In January, Arnaud Feist, the CEO of Brussels Airport, made it clear that the airport would not be able to meet the noise standards set out in the environmental permit for the coming years due, among other things, to severe delays in the delivery of new, more environmentally friendly aircraft.

At the same time, last May, the Flemish government initiated new proceedings before the Court of Appeal to demand penalty payments of 100,000 euros per day if the federal government does not adjust the flight routes again.

It previously went to court against new procedures introduced in October 2023. That ruled that the federal government had to establish new flight routes for Brussels Airport in Zaventem within six months.

To clarify: The federal government is responsible for the management of Brussels Airport (the organization of air traffic, air traffic control, operating permits, the amount of noise produced by each aircraft, and the flight procedures to be followed), while the regions are responsible for setting environmental standards to combat the noise pollution caused by air traffic and observed on the ground when an aircraft passes overhead.

For decades, the various regions in Belgium, as well as various interest groups and municipalities, have been involved in legal wrangling over the flight routes to be followed for Brussels Airport.

Each time, they have tried to defend the interests of their own inhabitants, which has given the whole issue the appearance of a typical Belgian communitarian hornet’s nest.