September 11, 2024
Denmark’s subsea CO2 storage facility is ready to receive high volumes of CO2. So reports British chemical company Ineos after receiving a positive final report for the pilot project. Ineos said Denmark now has “a safe and functioning underground storage facility in the North Sea, where CO2 can be permanently stored to combat climate change.” […]
September 10, 2024
The Brussels holding company D’Ieteren, known among other things as an importer of Volkswagen and car glass repairer Carglass, will eventually, after seven generations, be owned by only one branch of the family: Nicolas D’Ieteren and his investment vehicle, Nayarit. The latter is buying out his nephew Olivier Périer and his holding company, SPDG Group. […]
September 10, 2024
From October 1st, only 50 km/hour may be driven on the Paris Ring Road. The news was already announced last year, but Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has officially confirmed the speed limit. Remarkably, for the measure intended to reduce pollution for more than half a million inhabitants, Hidalgo is not awaiting the advice of the […]
September 09, 2024
The oil price has dropped significantly again. A barrel of US WTI oil now costs 67.67 dollars, after the peak in April of around 87 dollars per barrel. A barrel of Brent North Sea oil now costs about 71 dollars a barrel, down from more than 90 dollars in April. The price drop, the lowest […]
September 09, 2024
NMBS/SNCB’s Board of Directors unanimously approved the train offer for 2025 on Friday. This offer is less ambitious than anticipated, partly due to a staff shortage. Overall, the train offer increases by almost 2% (in a million train kilometers) compared to 2024. In addition, 220 trains that had been scaled down in 2022 due to […]
September 06, 2024
What so many commuters, young people, and weekend tourists were looking forward to is threatening to be a hefty blow to rail travelers and a PR thud for Belgian rail company NMBS/SNCB. After all, the public rail company wants to postpone the planned expansion of its offerings, which are scheduled for the end of this […]
September 05, 2024
It must be no coincidence: just when three French-speaking parties involved in the formation of the Brussels government decided on their own to present a proposal in parliament to postpone the tightening of the emission standard for the low-emission zone (LEZ) in Brussels from the beginning of 2025 to 2027, the non-profit organization Chercheurs d’Air […]
September 04, 2024
In Flamanville, France, electricity producer EDF has been able to start up a new nuclear power plant, Flamanville 3, after a 12-year delay. However, it will take another three months before the first electricity is pumped into the French grid. Flamanville 3 is France’s 57th nuclear reactor and, with 1,600 megawatts, will be the most […]
September 04, 2024
The new Swedish government, a right-wing minority government with tacit support from the radical-right Sweden Democrats, will abolish the ‘flyswatter’, or flight tax, introduced by the previous red-green government on July 1st next year. “Sweden depends on competition in the airline industry,” says Sweden Democrats group chairman Linda Lindberg. “Companies and individuals need air travel, […]
September 03, 2024
Lufthansa’s big boss, Carsten Spohr, met yesterday with members of the Portuguese government about a possible stake by the German airline group in TAP. According to Italian business newspaper Corriere della Sera, Lufthansa is interested in taking a 19.9% stake in the publicly owned Portuguese airline. Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, and British Airways parent company IAG […]
September 02, 2024
MR, Les Engagés, and the PS, the parties negotiating a new Brussels government on the French-speaking side, want to present a proposal in the Brussels Parliament that would postpone the introduction of the stricter low-emission zone (LEZ) emissions standards from early 2025 to early 2027. The parties report this in a joint press release. Groen, […]
August 30, 2024
As great was the joy a few weeks ago at the inauguration of the new streetcar in Liège, so great is the disappointment today among the advocates of a sustainable mobility policy for the Liège metropolis. After all, the new Walloon government has abandoned the project to extend the Liège tramway to Herstal and Seraing. […]
August 30, 2024
Several environmental organizations are suing the European Commission for not imposing sufficiently strict CO2 standards on member states under the 2015 Paris Agreement on global warming. First and foremost, they are calling for fossil-fuel-powered planes and ships to be removed from the EU’s list of sustainable investments, which they say is an example of greenwashing. […]
August 29, 2024
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 […]
August 29, 2024
The Brussels public transport company MIVB/STIB has welcomed the first of 70 articulated, all-electric buses. De eCitaro buses will replace the last Euro 5 buses still in circulation, which, due to the tightening of the low emission zone (LEZ), may no longer be used from 2025. The Marly depot in Neder-Over-Heembeek is also being expanded […]
August 28, 2024
Brussels Airlines will soon introduce a new Belgian Icon, following the tribute to Tintin, the Smurfs, Tomorrowland, and the Red Devils, to name but a few. This time, the public may devise a design for a new painted airplane again. Beer, French fries, chocolate, and waffles are out of the question, but otherwise, almost anything […]
August 27, 2024
The Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB will call for tenders this fall for the rollout of a large network of charging stations in its station car parks, reports the business newspaper De Tijd/L’Echo. The NMBS/SNCB charging station network is not extensive at the moment. The railroad company has 522 stations with parking facilities totaling 75,000 […]
August 26, 2024
Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB aims to increase the number of passengers by 30% by 2032 compared to 2022. Back then, 227 million passengers were transported, so the number of passengers should reach 300 million by 2032. According to the newspaper Le Soir, NMBS/SNCB has launched an investigation into the suburban S-nets of Brussels, Antwerp, […]
August 23, 2024
Brian Niccol, Starbucks’ new top executive, will be provided a jet by the American coffeehouse chain group to fly from his home in California to its headquarters in Seattle. That’s about 1,600 km. Niccol takes office on Monday, September 9th, but so is already under fire, while others accuse the firm of hypocrisy, with some […]
August 22, 2024
Brussels has 13,175 people on the waiting list to park their bikes in a secure bike park or box, 701 more than in February of this year, reports the Brussels news site BRUZZ. Parking.brussels has installed new bike boxes here and there over the past months, but the demand for bike parking continues to grow. […]
August 21, 2024
“A historic day” is what Willy Demeyer, the socialist mayor of Liège, called yesterday the first return after nearly 60 years of the streetcar to the center of the Cité ardente for a first test. “This streetcar will revolutionize mobility, the environment, and the economy,” De Meyer said. On August 31st, 1964, the streetcar made […]
August 20, 2024
The Belgian government introduced a flight tax of two to ten euros for short flights under 500 km two years ago, and that tax raised more than 40 million euros last year, according to the newspaper Le Soir. Last year, more than 800 passenger flights by private jets were conducted over less than 500 kilometers. […]
August 20, 2024
Most airlines still have a long way to go in using sustainable jet fuel, despite their promise to get at least 10% of their fuel from sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, by the decade’s end. That’s according to an analysis by Bloomberg Green. American Airlines does not excel in the use of SAFs, while airlines […]
August 19, 2024
Major renovation works on the Craeybeckx tunnel on the E19 highway started on Sunday evening in Antwerp. The tunnel will receive LED lighting and a new ventilation system, and the high- and low-voltage installation will undergo a complete overhaul. Disruption will be limited to evenings and nights, and the work will last a year. Consequently, […]
August 16, 2024
Complaining on social media about poor service? They know all about that at the Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB, plagued as it is by the many delayed and canceled trains. Yet NMBS’s communication strategy on X, formerly Twitter, has significantly reduced the number of complaint tweets, according to the doctoral research of administrative scientist Steven […]
August 16, 2024
The extensive renovation works at the Central Station metro station in the heart of Brussels should be completed by the autumn of 2027. The works are thus on schedule. The metro station, one of the oldest in Belgium (1969), will receive a facelift, new spaces, and improved accessibility for people with reduced mobility. With 50,000 […]
August 13, 2024
Fewer cars and trucks drove on Flemish highways last year than in 2019, the year before Covid-19. Nevertheless, according to the Flemish Traffic Center’s annual overviews, traffic congestion was at its highest level in 2023. On an average working day in 2023, almost 3% fewer vehicle kilometers traveled on Flemish highways than in 2019, a […]
August 12, 2024
China is challenging at the World Trade Organization (WTO) the provisional European import tariffs on Chinese electric cars decided by the European Commission in July. In doing so, Beijing calls on the EU to “immediately stop the bad practices.” It denounces a “serious” violation of WTO rules and argues that the duties compromise the fight […]
August 09, 2024
Flying is getting safer and safer. A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) shows that the risk of dying on a plane flight has halved every decade since the late 1960s. Between 2018 and 2022, the average was one death for every 13.7 million passengers worldwide, compared with one death for every 7.9 […]
August 08, 2024
German car rental company Sixt is going to rent out fewer electric cars. It is a remarkable reversal for Europe’s largest car rental company, which has always prided itself on significantly reducing the carbon footprint of its rental fleet by achieving a 70-90% share of EVs in Europe by 2030. According to the listed company, […]
August 07, 2024
Schiphol Airport is the first worldwide to test a hydrogen-powered Ground Power Unit (GPU). The H2-GPU can power KLM Cityhopper aircraft on-site, for example, for lighting and power in the cockpit. These new GPUs are more environmentally friendly than battery-based and diesel GPUs. The test is part of the TULIPS partnership initiated by Schiphol and […]
August 06, 2024
Chinese carmaker Geely has invested another 120 million pounds, or almost 140 million euros, in LEVC, the British manufacturer of London’s famous black cabs. The investment is the latest signal of growing Chinese involvement in the British EV market. The Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, which, in addition to Volvo, owns car brands such as Zeekr, […]
August 05, 2024
The Flemish government is invoking a conflict of interest regarding federal Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) ‘s decision to prevent parcel company DHL from landing or taking off in Zaventem with Boeing 777 aircraft. According to Gilkinet, DHL does not comply with night-time noise standards. In turn, Flemish Periphery Minister Ben Weyts (N-VA) says Gilkinet […]
August 02, 2024
Dutch Railways NS plans to cut 500 jobs at its headquarters in Utrecht through natural staff turnover to cut costs. Another saving measure is that the rail company is also investigating whether the refurbishment of trains can be scaled down. All measures together should lead to annual savings of 200 million euros. NS lost 109 […]
August 02, 2024
TotalEnergies will install up to 2,000 new charging stations on the streets of all 19 Brussels municipalities before the end of June 2025. The French multinational energy and petroleum company announced this in a press release. The news comes as quite a surprise because in recent weeks there has been a lot of fuss about […]
August 01, 2024
As expected, Lufthansa’s second-quarter profit almost halved compared to the same period last year. Net profit came in at 469 million euros, down from 881 million euros in 2023, or a 47% drop year-on-year. Due to increasing competition and overcapacity on certain lines, the group cannot sustain the high ticket prices after the coronavirus pandemic. […]
July 31, 2024
According to a new report from energy think tank Ember, for the first six months of 2024, wind and solar power were the main sources of electricity in the European Union rather than fossil fuels. For the first time, both renewable energy sources were also the largest in Belgium. “With the growth of solar and […]
July 31, 2024
An interactive app by Brussels e-bike maker Cowboy that allows cyclists to race against each other is causing quite a stir, starting in Amsterdam. Cowboy has temporarily shut down the app with “the world’s first interactive game while driving,” to reassess its safety, but the Brussels public prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation. It all […]
July 30, 2024
German meal delivery company HelloFresh wants to make the middle mile, the transport between the central distribution center and the hubs, even more sustainable with a pilot project in the Benelux. To do so, it will deploy a refrigerated electric truck, the company’s first. With the initiative, the meal box supplier will save some 191,000 […]
July 29, 2024
Turkey wants to become a significant player in producing batteries for electric cars. That is what President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced. To this end, it has launched an ambitious 15 billion-dollar public subsidy program. “We have made battery production a priority for our auto industry to maintain its competitiveness,” said Erdogan, who wants to […]
July 29, 2024
The French railroad company SNCF announced repairs on the French TGV network following a large-scale attack on Friday. This attack involved arson on high-speed train cables and installations. SNFC says passengers will normally experience no further impact this week. The attack happened just hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. Eurostar trains from […]
July 26, 2024
SPW Mobilité, the Public Service for Walloon Mobility, is completing a study on the creation of a network of cycle routes in Walloon Brabant, writes the newspaper L’Avenir. The initiative was developed in consultation with the province, 27 municipalities, and stakeholders, such as the cycling association Gracq and NMBS/SNCB. Compared to Flanders, Wallonia lags in […]
July 25, 2024
Belgian motorists stood still in traffic jams for an average of 6 minutes and 43 seconds per day between January 1 and July 1, representing 40 hours and 51 minutes of lost time per year. According to the Belgian Mobility Dashboard, developed by the Federation of Belgian Enterprises (FEB) and automobile federation FEBIAC. Compared to […]
July 24, 2024
From now on, season ticket holders of the Flemish public transport company De Lijn can register their boarding or transfer digitally. This means that bus or streetcar passengers who have registered their ride or transfer in advance on busy lines no longer have to queue to scan their MOBIB card with the driver. User surveys […]
July 24, 2024
Despite nearly 6,000 submitted objections, the airport in Deurne, also known as Antwerp Airport, has been granted a new environmental permit by Flemish Environment Minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA). The open-ended permit does come with “strict conditions.” For example, there will be a ban on night flights, noise standards will be established, a noise wall must […]
July 23, 2024
Irish low-cost airline Ryanair saw profits nearly halve in the first quarter. Still, the airline expects ticket prices in the second quarter to remain lower than last summer, whereas previously, the company was still assuming stable or slightly higher prices. Summer is a crucial time for airlines. It is the period when they make the […]
July 23, 2024
Boeing’s 777X, the biggest dual-engine commercial airplane in the world, is expected to fly through the skies starting in 2025. The American aircraft manufacturer also expects that the global fleet of commercial aircraft will grow to more than 50,000 aircraft in 20 years, about double its current fleet. Major competitor Airbus is not sitting idle […]
July 23, 2024
Belgian police issued 8,420,303 traffic violations last year, or 10,6% more than in 2022. That accounts for a new record. Four out of five cases involved speeding; compared to 2022, 11,8% more speeding drivers were caught. Police attribute the rising figures to the higher number of intelligent ANPR cameras, especially the higher number of average […]
July 22, 2024
On Friday, a computer glitch caused many problems at airports worldwide. From Sydney over Dubai to Berlin, nearly 4,300 aircraft had to be grounded, with the US, Britain, India, and Australia particularly affected. In Belgium, the damage from the computer malfunction remained relatively limited, with delayed flights at Brussels Airport—courtesy of the old computer system. […]
July 19, 2024
As of October, the Ghent City Council will be able to collect traffic fines in 22 additional European countries, from Spain to Italy to Poland. Previously, this was limited to a few neighboring countries. A European cooperation and the involvement of two Dutch companies makes the fine policy possible. It involves violations of parking policies, […]
July 19, 2024
Ursula von der Leyen, reappointed on Thursday by the European Parliament as president of the European Commission, wants to make train travel more accessible by creating a standard reservation system at the EU level. She said this in the political guidelines for the next legislature for 2024-2029, just before the vote for her reappointment. “We […]
July 18, 2024
Belgium will receive 47.9 million euros in European funding to modernize its railroad infrastructure between Brussels and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and to equip rolling stock with the ETCS safety system. This was announced by Federal Minister of Mobility Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo). The funds will come from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) fund, a […]
July 17, 2024
Consumer organization Testaankoop/Test Achat (TA) and equal opportunities center Unia threaten a lawsuit against Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB for “digital discrimination.” This is because some tickets can be purchased cheaper via the app than at the ticket counter and vending machines. Other tickets, in turn, are only available via the app. The two organizations […]
July 16, 2024
The municipal tax on charging stations that several Brussels municipalities want to introduce is contrary to Brussels legislation, says outgoing Minister of Finance and Budget Sven Gatz (Open VLD), who also warns that the tax will hinder Brussels’ economic development. Brussels municipalities want to introduce a charging station tax in 2025. The tax could be […]
July 16, 2024
In the coming weeks, bicycle repair kiosks will be installed at some 30 NMBS/SNCB train stations in Belgium. These stands will allow cyclists to carry out minor repairs to their bikes themselves. The first stands have been installed at Duffel (Antwerp) and Enghien (Hainaut) stations. The stands are part of the NMBS/SNCB plan to make […]
July 15, 2024
Lufthansa, still Europe’s largest airline group, has downgraded its financial outlook 2024 and announced a “recovery plan”. After a disappointing first half year, the group, which in addition to Lufthansa includes Austrian, Swiss, Eurowing, and Brussels Airlines, among others, now expects an operating profit of between 1.4 billion and 1.8 billion euros in 2024, down […]
July 15, 2024
The Belgian public railroad company NMBS/SNCB will stop the physical sale of tickets for international train travel in nine stations starting in October. These are Arlon, Eurpen, Ottignies, Brussels-Luxembourg, Antwerp-Berchem, Courtrai, Hasselt, Mechelen, and Ostend. NMBS/SNCB will concentrate on selling such international train tickets in 12 so-called ‘travel stores’. Specialized travel stores According to NMBS/SNCB […]
July 12, 2024
Fresh Belgian ‘formateur’ Bart De Wever (N-VA) has informed Engie that he wants to put “maximum” effort into nuclear energy, writes the business newspaper De Tijd. The intention is to keep Doel 4 and Tihange 3 open longer than the 10-year extension negotiated by the previous Vivaldi government. Whether Engie will comply with the request […]
July 12, 2024
Wallonia plans to introduce a freeway vignette to finance infrastructure in Wallonia. This is according to the new coalition agreement proposed yesterday by the political parties MR and Les Engagés. Usually, the additional tax would apply only to foreigners. However, a cooperation agreement must first be reached with Flanders and the Brussels Capital Region so […]
July 11, 2024
Belgian national railway company NMBS/SCNB’s train passengers were slightly less satisfied with the service in 2023 than the previous year, as shown in the company’s activity report. On average, passengers gave NMBS a score of 7,17 out of 10. In 2022, this was still 7,26 out of 10. This is a new way of calculating […]
