January 26, 2024
A new direct railway line now connects the ports of Genk and Zeebrugge. On an annual basis, this will take some 12 000 trucks carrying containers off the road. “The rail connection promises significant benefits in terms of mobility and sustainability,” says Heike Ulburghs, General Manager of the Port of Genk. Flanders is making 200 […]
January 25, 2024
After the Stellantis Group, Renault, and Hyundai, Volkswagen will also offer cars in the French ‘social leasing’ project, President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to provide electric vehicles for less than 150 euros a month through a lease with purchase option. Four models will be offered by the end of January, from the small Volkswagen E-UP (€89/month) […]
January 24, 2024
Engineers of the state-owned railway company Deutsche Bahn started a six-day strike last night, the longest strike ever on German railways. The strike comes because of a long-running dispute over working conditions and pay between DB and union GDL. Train traffic in Germany is expected to come to a virtual standstill. It is now the […]
January 24, 2024
The European Commission has blocked plans by German airline group Lufthansa to take a minority stake in Italian airline ITA Airways. EU anti-trust regulators are “concerned after a preliminary investigation that the transaction could restrict competition on several short- and long-haul routes to and from Italy,” they said in a press release. This mainly concerns […]
January 23, 2024
Brussels Airlines and its Belgian rival TUI fly are looking to recruit more than 700 people this year. Both airlines are mainly looking for stewards and flight attendants, but TUI fly is also looking for 15 future pilots, for example, while about 40 are needed at Brussels Airlines. Brussels Airlines, which had to lay off […]
January 23, 2024
Three years after the introduction of the 30 km/hour rule in Brussels, Brussels Mobility can only present a fine balance sheet: the introduction of the speed limit has not only led to less noise pollution and a general decrease in average speeds in the capital’s streets but has also reduced the severity of accidents, particularly […]
January 22, 2024
In France, the first vehicles have been delivered within President Emmanuel Macron’s social leasing plan, a measure to lease a European electric car at 100 euros per month for those on the lowest incomes. The first vehicles were provided by the Stellantis Group, known for brands such as Peugeot, Citroën, etc. So far, about 91 […]
January 22, 2024
Since last year, taking rides in horse-drawn carriages in the center of Brussels has no longer been possible. The city will come up with an alternative this summer: the horse-drawn carriages will be replaced by three electric ones, a unique in Europe, according to Brussels news site BRUZZ. The electric ones will be operated by […]
January 19, 2024
Brussels Airlines has presented new uniforms for its cabin crew, pilots, and airport staff. The style guide has also been completely updated: from now on, hairstyles and make-up are no longer gender-specific, which means that stewards can now paint their nails, for example. Visible tattoos are no longer taboo either. The new uniforms, which more […]
January 18, 2024
From March 1st, opening hours will change in almost all Belgian railway stations where there are still ticket offices. No ticket office will remain completely closed, but opening hours will be reduced in all but four of the 91 stations where there are still ticket offices. The Belgian public railway company wants to use its […]
January 17, 2024
German car rental company Sixt is to buy up to 250 000 cars for its rental fleets in Europe and North America from Stellantis, the group behind brands such as Peugeot, Citroën, Opel, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Fiat, and Jeep. The order involves several billion euros, although both companies are not naming precise amounts. The move […]
January 17, 2024
Swedish battery maker Northvolt will get 4,6 billion euros to expand its large battery factory in Sweden and the Revolt Ett recycling plant next door. It is the largest green loan given to a company so far in Europe, according to the European Investment Bank (EIB), which is issuing the loan with 23 commercial banks […]
January 16, 2024
Lufthansa Group plans to hire around 13 000 new employees this year. These include pilots, cabin crew, technicians, and IT specialists, according to the German airline group, which also has airlines Eurowings, Brussels Airlines, Swiss, and Austrian Airlines. According to Aviation24, at least 380 of them will be recruited for Brussels Airlines. Lufthansa is looking […]
January 15, 2024
The punctuality of Belgian public railway company NMBS/SNCB’s trains fell to the lowest level in five years last year. More than 46 000 trains were also canceled, a record. “This is not what passengers are entitled to,” the rail operator and NMBS/SNCB responded. Specifically, 87,5% of trains arrived at their final destination or in Brussels […]
January 12, 2024
A new legal framework gives Belgian police a legal basis to deploy bicycles with GPS trackers from now on. Previous limited experiments by some police zones with lure bikes were successful but time-consuming and required the intervention of the magistracy as the method could otherwise be considered a provocation. The city of Ghent, in particular, […]
January 11, 2024
The German shared e-scooter operator TIER and the Dutch-French micro-mobility company Dott have signed a preliminary agreement to merge the two companies to form Europe’s leading micro-mobility operator. Both companies reported this in a press release. The joint entity will continue to operate under the Dott and TIER brands. The merger is expected to take […]
January 10, 2024
London still has the world’s slowest city center for motorists. That’s according to the new TomTom index. This puts the British capital at the top of the Dutch location technology company’s rankings for the second year. London scores so ‘high’ because of its widespread speed limits of 20 mph, or 32 km/hour. TomTom based its […]
January 09, 2024
Germany has been given the green light by the European Commission to allocate 902 million euros in subsidies to a battery plant by Sweden’s Northvolt in Heide, in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. The plant in northern Germany, positioned to produce the cleanest batteries for EVs in continental Europe with a capacity of up to 60 […]
January 09, 2024
The Brussels government has inaugurated a new P+R car park on the Heysel plateau, suitable for around 100 parking spaces. The car park and the ninth Park and Ride in the Brussels Region should make commuting to Brussels smoother. “With P+R Heysel, we now provide parking infrastructure at all major approach roads, with smooth connections […]
January 08, 2024
The storm over Flemish public transport company De Lijn’s new transport scheme has not died. In an interview with the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, top woman Ann Schoubs says that De Lijn wants to raise ticket prices if the Flemish government does not release an extra 100 million euros annually. However, in principle, the Flemish […]
January 05, 2024
Flemish public transport operator De Lijn orders 92 standard electric buses from Chinese bus maker BYD. The order, representing an investment of over 43 million euros, follows the award by De Lijn’s board of directors of a new framework agreement of up to 500 standard e-buses to BYD Europe. The order earned De Lijn a […]
January 04, 2024
Cambio, the car-sharing system, had another record year. Last year, the company took over 1 million rides for the first time. It also added some 7 000 new users, so today cambio has more than 70 000 members. Those as many as 70 648 members can fall back on a fleet of more than 2 […]
January 04, 2024
From Saturday, Flemish public transport company De Lijn’s new basic accessibility network will be operational. But even before the new timetable – “the biggest transition ever” at De Lijn – goes into effect, criticism is louder and louder. More stops would be scrapped than planned, and the new Hoppin bus network would create greater transport […]
January 03, 2024
Under Joe Biden, the US has become the world’s largest oil producer and is producing more oil than any country ever has. According to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), US oil production has even increased by 21% over the past five years, and it settled in December a new annual production record with […]
January 02, 2024
Taxi drivers at Brussels Airport in Zaventem think the mandatory language requirements are too strict, so they went on strike for two and a half hours last Friday. The Flemish government wants to impose an oral and written test of Dutch (level B1) on drivers from 1 July 2024. “The bar is far too high,” […]
January 02, 2024
European aircraft maker Airbus has a much better financial year than its US rival Boeing. In December alone, 500 orders were placed, accounting for a record 1 880 new aircraft orders for 2023. This makes Airbus the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer for the sixth time in a row, a position it owes mainly to its […]
December 29, 2023
All airlines departing from Brussels Airport in 2024 can benefit from a one-off premium to use Sustainable Aviation Fuels or SAFs. The SAF premium will be up to 200 000 euros per airline. According to Brussels Airport, that will cover up to 80% of the additional cost. Due to the high price of SAF, that […]
December 28, 2023
The Flemish Traffic Center, the watchdog of traffic jams in the most populated Belgian Region, which has been counting traffic to calculate congestion severity since 2011, is looking for ten extra traffic controllers on top of the 20 people currently working there. With congestion figures climbing to unprecedented heights, the Center is running out of […]
December 27, 2023
Belgian public railway company NMBS/SNCB wants to outsource the management of its 60 payable car parks to a commercial company. So writes the business newspaper L’Echo. Sophie Dutordoir, CEO of NMBS/SNCB, is reported to have said so in the federal parliament a few weeks ago when she came to the Parliamentary Committee on Mobility for […]
December 26, 2023
The Brussels government and the board of directors of the Brussels public transport company MIVB/STIB have signed the new 2024-2028 management agreement. The agreement provides for an 11,9% increase in supply so that MIVB/STIB can count 457 million passengers by 2028, or over a third more than 2022. Indexation of fares is provided, but for […]
December 26, 2023
The British multinational Shell has introduced a new charging structure. The company will charge blocking fees for drivers who leave their EV at a public charging station for more than four hours, even if the battery is not yet fully charged. The measure only applies to Bluecorner, EV Box, and Road charging points for now, […]
December 22, 2023
From January 1st, car buyers in Belgium will pay an additional 10 euros environmental contribution when buying a new car or van. This contribution will pay for the future recycling of the vehicle, reports Febelauto, the Belgian management body for both end-of-life vehicles and batteries from hybrids and EVs. Febelauto has been managing the recycling […]
December 21, 2023
The General Court of the European Union has annulled the billions in aid approved by the European Commission to French airline Air France-KLM during the coronavirus health crisis. According to the court, the EC “erred” at the time. France, the major shareholder of Air France, helped the airline in 2020 with a 4-billion-euro state guarantee […]
December 21, 2023
Since Thursday, public transport in the southern French city of Montpellier has been free of charge. In France, there are already around 40 cities where buses and trams are free for residents. Still, with more than 500 000 inhabitants, Montpellier is the largest European metropolis offering such a free service. “This is a measure that […]
December 20, 2023
Lufthansa has ordered 80 new short- and medium-haul aircraft with Boeing and Airbus. These include 40 Airbus A220-300 aircraft and 40 Boeing 737-8 Max. The German airline group is also taking an option on 120 additional aircraft. The group itself calls it the most extensive fleet modernization in its history. The aircraft will be delivered […]
December 20, 2023
The liberalization of the European railroad market is continuing, which will also be at the expense of the services of NMBS/SNCB. So says Belgians railroad company’s CEO, Sophie Dutordoir, who warns of congestion on the track if additional international operators track trains through Brussels. “If two operators are added, ten public service trains will disappear […]
December 20, 2023
If Ryanair’s share price continues to rise, top executive Michael O’Leary could land a bonus of as much as 100 million euros. That reports the British business newspaper Financial Times, based on a 2019 bonus plan for the Irishman. If Ryanair’s shares maintain a price of 21 euros for 28 consecutive days, then the super […]
December 19, 2023
The 2024-2028 management agreement between the Brussels public transport company MIVB/STIB and the Brussels Region will not happen now. The French-speaking PS socialists are reversing their course and opposing the indexation of preferential fares. However, the Brussels government, of which the PS is also part, approved it last week. A new attempt will be made […]
December 18, 2023
Denmark will impose a tax on air travel starting in 2025. By 2030, the flight tax should be at cruising speed and will amount to an average of 100 Danish kroner or 13,5 euros, the Danish government has announced. At the same time, it is calling for the adoption of a European tax on the […]
December 18, 2023
Getlink, the operator of the Channel Tunnel, wants to attract new rail operators. It has set aside a budget of 50 million euros for this purpose. With direct high-speed trains between London, Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam, Eurostar is currently the only operator for passenger transport through the Channel Tunnel. But that monopoly Eurostar has had […]
December 15, 2023
French President Emmanuel Macron has launched his promised ‘social leasing’ system for electric cars at 100 euros monthly for those on the lowest incomes. In doing so, he is fulfilling an election campaign pledge that takes effect on January 1st. It would involve at least 20 000 to 25 000 deliveries in 2024, but after […]
December 14, 2023
Federal Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) has presented the new code of public roads. The current Belgian road code was about half a century old and outdated in some areas, hence the need for an update in the now rapidly changing road traffic in which there is, for example, 80% more cycling, said the minister. […]
December 13, 2023
By 2032, Brussels Airport’s noise impact would drop by 12% despite growth in passengers and cargo volumes. That’s according to the environmental impact report (MER) accompanying the new Brussels Airport environmental permit application. More modern aircraft making less noise and quieter landing techniques would decrease the nuisance. By the end of March, the Flemish government […]
December 12, 2023
Five significant companies in Wallonia are pledging to invest 346 million euros in their plants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So reports the business newspaper L’Echo. They are cement companies Holcim, CCB, and CBR and metal companies Aperam and Industeel. Together, they are responsible for annual CO2 emissions of 2 415 million tons. They are […]
December 11, 2023
In November, almost 20% of Belgian trains were not punctual. This is one of the worst results in the past seven years, according to figures from railway infrastructure manager Infrabel. Nevertheless, from February, all NMBS/SNCB products will be 5,9% more expensive, including the prices of tickets and subscriptions. One in five trains (19,2%) of the […]
December 08, 2023
Since the Brussels Capital Region introduced a low-emission zone (LEZ) in 2018, there has been a 30% reduction in nitrogen dioxide along Brussels’ main roads. Brussels Environment has also observed similar and more significant reductions for other pollutants. Air quality in Antwerp has also improved significantly over the past decade. However, traffic remains the primary […]
December 08, 2023
Airlines expect to carry 4,7 billion passengers next year, a historic record dixit the International Air Transport Association (IATA). According to the umbrella organization, the airline industry will also post a net profit of 25,7 billion dollars in 2024, a slight improvement on the 23,3 billion dollars the industry is most likely to post this […]
December 06, 2023
The Mechelen court finds Flemish public transport company De Lijn guilty of structural discrimination against people with disabilities. Four wheelchair users had gone to court after their complaints to De Lijn itself were unsuccessful. They will now each receive compensation of 650 euros. De Lijn is studying the verdict and is considering possible next steps. […]
December 06, 2023
Pilots of Belgian air carrier Brussels Airlines won’t strike this month, as planned initially. On Tuesday, unions and the management agreed on three of the main demands of the pilots to release work pressure: 12 instead of 5 ‘joker days’, more compensation for weekend work, and extra rest time when staying on location abroad. After […]
December 05, 2023
Most rides on a Blue-bike, a bike-sharing project of which the Flemish public transport company De Lijn is the main shareholder, will become one euro more expensive from next year. This is because the concession from the Flemish government will disappear. Indeed, for each 24-hour ride, the Flemish government has reimbursed one euro. From 1 […]
December 05, 2023
There will be no specific validity restriction on driving licenses for the over-70s in Europe. They will also not undergo mandatory medical checks to renew their driving licenses. European mobility ministers in Brussels agreed on this. Europe thus leaves each member state free to decide on any shorter period of validity of driving licenses for […]
December 04, 2023
The deal between the French multinational and the Belgian government on the lifetime extension of Belgium’s two youngest nuclear power plants, Doel 4 and Tihange 3, has been fully finalized. According to federal Energy Minister Tinne Van der Straeten (Groen), the 1 500-page contract will be discussed at the various federal vice cabinets this week, […]
December 01, 2023
Research by the Flemish Foundation for Traffic Knowledge (Vlaamse Stichting Verkeerskunde, VSV) shows that half of the truck drivers place objects on their dashboards, including illuminated miniature Christmas trees in the end-of-the-year season. These items can obstruct visibility, increasing the risk of (blind spot) accidents. VSV is, therefore, launching a campaign with the transport sector […]
December 01, 2023
In Machelen, the new 710-meter-long bicycle and pedestrian bridge, the longest in Flanders, has been in place since Thursday. The new bridge over Leopold III Avenue between Machelen and Zaventem not only ensures a safe crossing but also forms a hitherto missing link in the route of the future Ring Cycle Path and connects to […]
November 30, 2023
Brussels public transport operator MIVB/STIB has ordered 36 electric buses from German manufacturer Daimler Buses. The order is part of a framework agreement for up to 80 standard low-floor buses. The first eCitaro-bus from that order should enter the fleet in early 2026. A new order for 14 additional articulated e-buses is also planned soon. […]
November 29, 2023
The first metro of the Grand Paris Express, a massive 15-year project that is set to revolutionize transport in the region around the French capital, rolled out in Paris on Tuesday. The new rapid transit lines should connect the periphery, or the Île-de-France region, to the capital and are expected to serve 2 million passengers […]
November 28, 2023
De Lijn will order up to 1 600 charging points to charge electric buses in its depots. The Flemish public transport company is placing the order with two suppliers: TM SPIE-Ekoenergetyka and ABB. De Lijn will purchase some 320 to 490 charging points in the first phase, representing an investment of 15,3 million euros. The […]
November 27, 2023
Municipalities will soon be allowed to install fixed speed cameras and average speed checks in bicycle streets. The Flemish government has decided this, reports the newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, among others. It is already happening in some Flemish municipalities. In the Bodukap police zone in the Antwerp region, for example, 22-speed pedelec users were recently cautioned […]
November 27, 2023
Never have travelers in Belgium filed so many complaints about canceled or late trains. That was reported by the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws. Ombudsrail, the ombudsperson service for train passengers, already received a third more complaints from dissatisfied passengers in 2023 than last year, a record number. There are many more complaints. After all, travelers […]
November 24, 2023
Brussels Airlines and shuttle transport specialist Flibco are launching a collaboration to offer connections between Lille and eleven destinations in Sub-Saharan Africa. The bus service operated by Flibco between Lille and Brussels Airport in Zaventem will automatically be included in the air ticket. This is a pilot project that both companies hope to expand later. […]
