Flanders will become the new largest shareholder of Brussels Airport. Through its investment company PMV, it will invest 2,77 billion euros in the airport located in Flemish Zaventem, acquiring a 39% stake in the airport operator. “We want to be in the cockpit when it comes to the future of our airport. If we don’t help decide, someone else will do it for us,” says Flemish minister-president Matthias Diependaele (N-VA).
On the Walloon side, the deal is viewed with suspicion because one of Belgium’s economic superpowers is being handed over to Flemish control, and the move could also mean adding fuel to the fire regarding the issue of nuisance caused by night flights, among other things. But even within Flanders, not everyone agrees with the operation.
“Strategic participation”
Flanders already had a small stake of about 1% in Brussels Airport. With the takeover of the share package offered for sale by the Canadian pension fund OTPP, 38% is now added. With the move, Flanders also gains a 52% stake in BAISA, the private consortium of shareholders that in turn owns 75% of Brussels Airport Company (BAC).
After the Port of Antwerp, Brussels Airport is Flanders’ second economic growth hub, accounting for 60,000 direct and indirect jobs. Flemish government leader Diependaele, therefore, emphasizes that this is a “strategic participation” in that critical economic engine for Flanders.
Community-sensitive dossier
Diependaele acknowledges that € 2.77 billion is a hefty investment, but he makes the case that the investment will pay for itself through dividends from 2028. “From 2028, dividends will exceed interest. Then it will be a profitable operation for Flanders,” Diependaele said.
The federal government, with party colleague Bart De Wever as Prime Minister, also holds a stake of 25% or more in the airport and is considering increasing its stake. But now Flanders will be a larger shareholder than the federal government. And that immediately raises questions.
For example, will Flanders now assert itself more strongly in the community-sensitive dossier of flight paths and noise pollution? “That has nothing to do with it,” said Diependaele. “The role we play as shareholders is separate from the role we play as regulators. Chinese walls are also built in for that.”
“Federal balance at risk,” says PS
In any case, the French-speaking PS socialists do not feel reassured. They fear, for example, that the federal balance is at risk. According to them, the operation fits into a deliberate political strategy: a gradual but methodical weakening of federal instruments in favor of an increasingly pronounced Flemish regional power.
“Brussels Airport is located in Flanders, but serves as a national, and even international, hub”, said MP Ridouane Chahid. “It should remain a lever for balance and cooperation between the regions. Today, it becomes a symbol of federal dismemberment and institutional retreat.”
The Socialists ask, “What about the francophone votes within the federal government?” “This goes far beyond a mere economic dossier. It is a clear political warning: Flanders is resisting its pawns, strengthening its resources, expanding its influence, while the Francophones look the other way,” Chahid believes.
In turn, the newspaper La Libre Belgique refers to a “turning-point” in the airport’s history, and the French-language mayor, Benoît Cerexhe (Les Engagés) of Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, calls the partial takeover “a shock wave.”
He is particularly concerned about the consequences for the inhabitants of the Brussels Region. According to him, Brussels Airport has never really respected the people of Brussels. “I fear that this news will put Brussels and Walloon Brabant in even more trouble.”
Also, dissenting voices from Flanders
Even within Flanders, not everyone agrees with the operation. For Groen, the decision illustrates a “lack of vision and debate,” and it calls the investment a “dangerous precedent”, because the Flemish government now becomes both the airport’s largest shareholder and the government that must decide on and control permits. Currently, for example, there is also a ceiling on the growth of flights at Brussels Airport.
“A complaint is currently pending because the airport is not respecting its license,” said Flemish MP Aimen Hoch. “How can you be objective when you yourself are making money out of it? Will Flanders pay the penalties it has imposed? If you invest, you must also have a clear vision. How much noise is acceptable? How will we meet the climate goals? What do we do with night flights? The government does not give any answers.”
Open VLD member Egbert Lachaert also denounced that 2,77 billion euros are going to “a Flemish lion at Zaventem.” “Every working Fleming gets about 1,000 euros in debt to make the airport ‘Flemish’. That is not a core task,” Lachaert said.
Independent MP Maurits Vande Reyde also opposes the plans. He denounces the fact that the Flemish debt is still increasing, but also believes that it is causing Flanders to evolve into a “state economy, in which N-VA wants control over every company.” In any case, he does not want the decision to pass without discussion via amendment in the Flemish Parliament on Tuesday.
“Not illogical”, says federal Mobility Minister
For federal Mobility Minister Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés), “it is not illogical that Flanders would be present in a Flemish airport, just as Wallonia is present in the shareholding of Walloon airports.”
“The Belgian shareholding, whether Flemish or Walloon, deserves respect and moreover forces us to approach the strategic challenges of airports with a sense of responsibility and in the general interest,” the Minister said.
For his part and within his powers, he promises to be “a loyal and considerate partner in improving economic operating conditions and environmental requirements.” However you turn it, it already seems written in the stars that sooner or later this news is going to cause another upheaval in the Belgian economy (plus environmental issues) and politics.
