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 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 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 10, 2024
“Lift-off,” reported the European Space Agency (ESA) on social networking site X, Tuesday at 9 pm Belgian time, from the European Space Base in Kourou, French Guiana. A second hurrah followed an hour and six minutes after the launch of the new Ariane 6 as the microsatellites it carried were also put into an orbit […]
July 09, 2024
If all goes well, Europe’s newest rocket, Ariane 6, will finally be launched this Tuesday from its space base in Kourou, French Guiana. In this way, the European Space Agency (ESA) is making it clear that it is ready to enter the space race with US billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX. But when Ariane 6 soon […]
July 04, 2024
The European Commission has ruled that the Lufthansa Group can enter the capital of its Italian sector partner, ITA Airways, the successor to Alitalia. However, to safeguard competition, the two companies must offer other airlines access to several routes. “Today we are concluding a historic, long-standing case,” the Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti commented on […]
July 03, 2024
European cities are still much better connected by air than by rail, according to research by Greenpeace. From Brussels, for example, 41 of the 44 cities studied can be reached by direct flight and only 11 by rail. Greenpeace analyzed 990 routes between 45 major European cities. Only 12% of those routes are served by […]
July 03, 2024
Oil giant Shell has temporarily halted the construction of a biofuel factory in Pernis, near Rotterdam (Netherlands) – one of Europe’s largest biofuel plants. The pause should give the company space to assess the best commercial path forward for the project. It is the latest low-carbon energy project to be shelved by an energy giant […]
July 02, 2024
Cargo transporter DHL Express at Brussels Airport is leading the way in electrifying its ground-handling equipment. The company’s crew buses and tarmac cars are already 100% electric, and over the past days and weeks, the company has put eleven electric tractors and thirteen electric container lifts, belly loaders, and pushbacks into operation at Brussels Airport. […]
July 02, 2024
Belgian Dieter Vranckx, who was previously CEO of Brussels Airlines, has again been appointed chairman of the board of SN Airholding, the holding company wholly owned by German airline group Lufthansa. He succeeds Christina Foerster in the position. The German, also a former airline CEO, is leaving Lufthansa. Dieter Vranckx (51) already has a long […]
July 01, 2024
German airline Lufthansa suffers from delays in aircraft deliveries from Boeing and Airbus. According to CEO Carsten Spohr, the problems will not be solved before 2030, and the shortfall could cost Lufthansa around half a billion euros a year. The airline, which wants to modernize its fleet, has ordered 250 new aircraft from Airbus and […]
June 26, 2024
German airline group Lufthansa, to which Brussels Airlines also belongs, is launching an environmental surcharge of 1 to 72 euros for all flights departing from Europe and the UK, Norway, and Switzerland. For Brussels Airlines, the surcharge will be a maximum of 36 euros per flight. The surcharge will be charged on bookings starting today […]
June 25, 2024
VIL, the point of contact for the Flemish logistics sector, and WaterStofNet have installed the first mobile hydrogen refueling station at Brussels Airport. At the same time, DHL is testing the first hydrogen prototype for ground handling operations, a Mulag tractor with an integrated hydrogen fuel cell system. This is a first for the airport. […]
June 19, 2024
Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun has acknowledged the seriousness of the situation in a US Senate hearing on the quality of Boeing production and apologized for the grief that Boeing has caused. At the same time, he added that progress has since been made. Behind the top man were relatives of people killed in Boeing aircraft […]
June 19, 2024
Suppose you’re willing to pay €120 to €160 and not weigh nearly 100 kg. In that case, you can be one of the first to experience pure electric flying between the airports of Liege (Belgium), Maastricht (Netherlands), and Aachen (Germany) as a passenger in a Pipistrel Velis Electro, currently the only EASA-certified electric aircraft. The […]
June 18, 2024
The Ostend-Bruges airport will soon have the largest solar park in West Flanders and the second-largest park in Belgium. The 66,200 solar panels on the site, covering a total area of about 303,864 m2, the equivalent of 61 football fields, will produce almost 37,000 MWh of annual energy – much more than the airport can […]
June 14, 2024
Petrochemical analysis samples can now be transported by drone from the Antwerp port area to a laboratory. The innovative project by SGS, German chemical giant BASF, and ADLC was launched to make port operations more efficient and reduce the environmental impact of transporting analysis samples. According to SGS, a Swiss multinational specializing in inspections and […]
June 12, 2024
Flibco.com, a provider of transport services to airports in Belgium, is launching an international shuttle line between Maastricht and Charleroi Airport via Liège from 4 July. The bus company reckons the journey time will be around two hours for the 127 km separating the Dutch city from the Walloon one. Flibco.com promises ten daily departures […]
June 12, 2024
At Brussels Airport, the new building of Safran Aircraft Engine Services, a French aircraft engine maintenance company, has been officially inaugurated. The building, which cost 24 million euros to build, measures 8,500 m² and is carbon-neutral thanks to its use of 100% renewable energy. By 2027, the site will employ 220 new workers. The new […]
June 05, 2024
The target of 5% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by 2030 is extremely ambitious, according to IATA, the International Airline Association. Nevertheless, IATA remains committed to its target of net zero emissions by 2050, although its chairman, Willie Walsh, clearly states that it “is not going to promise to achieve something that does not seem possible […]
June 04, 2024
The European Football Championship is coming up, but whether the football tournament will also be ‘Wunderbar’ from an ecological point of view remains to be seen. Although Euro 2024 bills itself as ‘the greenest ever’, football teams could also set a good example by, for example, traveling more sustainably and avoiding flying whenever possible. Greenest […]
June 04, 2024
A direct flight to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, took off from Brussels Airport yesterday morning. Brussels Airlines is offering the route again for the first time in just under a decade. “Brussels Airlines is Lufthansa Group’s Africa expert,” said Dorothea von Boxberg, CEO of Brussels Airlines, at the launch. “Except for Washington and New York, […]
June 04, 2024
Airlines expect to carry almost five billion passengers worldwide this year, a new record, according to figures from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). This would smash the record set in 2019 before the coronavirus crisis. Airlines also expect to fly 30.5 billion dollars in profits this year, on revenues of 996 billion dollars. Previous […]
May 27, 2024
The Flemish government will start 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 over the Flemish periphery again. Flemish Periphery Minister Ben Weyts (N-VA) announced this in a press release. Federal Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) called […]
May 21, 2024
Brussels Airlines is going to the Council for Permit Disputes against the new environmental permit for Brussels Airport. According to the airline, European rules were not respected. Thirteen environmental organizations and residents’ associations are also taking the same step, following the lead of the Walloon government and Brussels Environment Minister Alain Maron (Ecolo). They say […]
May 08, 2024
The Belgian High Health Council is calling for a ban on night flights at Brussels Airport. This is the advisory body’s first recommendation of such a measure. According to the Council, at least 160,000 people living nearby are at increased risk of negative health effects, such as disturbed sleep, reduced lung function, and changes in […]
May 03, 2024
With 400 gates, five parallel runways, five passenger terminals, and an area of 70 km², Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport is set to become the largest airport in the world. Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, gave the go-ahead for the ambitious construction plans this week. […]
May 02, 2024
The Walloon government has granted Liège Airport a new environmental permit. The Council of State initially threatened to annul that. Still, strengthening the permit’s legal basis, including the limit of 55,000 authorized flights per year, remedied that shortcoming. At the end of February, the auditor at the State Council ordered the annulment of the license […]
May 02, 2024
The recent social unrest, with several strikes and strike notices, has cost Brussels Airlines an estimated 14 million euros. As a result, the Belgian airline went deeper into the red in the first quarter than during the first three months of last year. Strikes didn’t affect the Belgian airline alone, as parent company Lufthansa saw […]
April 26, 2024
Air traffic controller Skeyes is also preparing a digital control center in Flanders, which will serve the airports of Antwerp, Ostend, and Kortrijk. Skeyes and the Flemish government have reached an agreement on this. The decision that by 2026, air traffic at Charleroi and Liège airports, which are 100 km apart, will be remotely managed […]
April 22, 2024
Low-cost airlines pollute more than ever, the NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) denounces in a new report. All passenger flights taking off in Europe last year emitted as much CO2 as 80 million petrol cars in one year. However, airlines, according to the NGO fighting for more environmentally friendly transport, had to pay for less […]
April 09, 2024
Interparking is equipping the public car parks at Brussels Airport with more than 700 charging points for EVs. These slow charging points are optimized for long parking periods and are perfect for cars that stay for several days or weeks while the owner is traveling. There are no additional charges for parking in these car […]
April 02, 2024
The granting of Brussels Airport Company’s new environmental permit is provoking opposed reactions. According to the citizen forum Burgerforum Luchthavenregio, the Flemish government has let down the residents of the surrounding municipalities around the airport. The Federal Ombudsman also feels that health and pollution have not been sufficiently considered. The Flemish liberal political party Open […]
March 28, 2024
TAP Air Portugal posted a record profit of 177.3 million euros in 2023, up by just under 112 million euros compared to 2022. TAP carried 15.9 million passengers in 2023, up 15.2%, but still lower than before the 2019 health crisis. Meanwhile, Italy’s ITA Airways reduced its loss to 5 million euros last year, down […]
March 28, 2024
The Dutch ‘flying car’ will take a high flight in Dubai, where local business aviation company Aviterra has ordered a fleet of a hundred PAL-V Liberty aircraft. Loggia Investment, the investment arm of Aviterra, has made a strategic investment in PAL-V as one of the 220 contributors to the startup and established partnerships for the […]
March 26, 2024
From March 31st, the start of the summer season, Brussels Airport will offer nine new destinations. Six new airlines will also make their appearance. More importantly, by Friday, a decision on the new environmental permit for the airport is expected. Brussels Airport and residents will then know whether the annual number of flight movements will […]
March 21, 2024
The court in Amsterdam has condemned KLM for various misleading green claims in advertisements. According to the judges, the Dutch airline painted too rosy a picture of the beneficial effects of, for example, forest projects as CO2 compensation and the use of more sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The ruling states that such measures only marginally […]
March 21, 2024
Since its peak in 2007, the transport sector has decarbonized three times slower than the rest of the economy, and emissions continue to grow. European transport emissions have increased by over a quarter since 1990, while emissions across the wider economy are declining. A new study by Transport & Environment (T&E) shows that transport alone […]
March 21, 2024
A previously announced four-day strike by Brussels Airlines pilots was first postponed, but the unions reinitiated it for 27 to 30 March at the last minute on Wednesday evening as negotiating with the employer for higher wages was ‘close’ but ‘not sufficient’. The management proposal to compensate higher wages by less weekend rest days, was […]
March 19, 2024
Brussels Airport accounts for 5.41 billion in added value and more than 64,000 jobs. According to a study on the economic impact commissioned by Zaventem Airport, the Universities UAntwerpen and UCLouvain presented these results on Monday. Meanwhile, management and unions at Brussels Airlines also reached an agreement on Monday regarding better pay for cabin crew. […]
March 11, 2024
Together with the official opening of its new test center in Donauwörth, Germany, Airbus Helicopters presented last week the prototype of its fully electric CityAirbus NextGen eVTOL, a four-seater with eight propellors that takes off and lands vertically. Once airborne, the two-ton so-called ‘multicopter’ tilts its rotors to fly like an airplane for some 80 […]
March 08, 2024
After five years of loss-making, Brussels Airlines posted record results last year, with an operating profit of 53 million euros. The airline carried 8,3 million passengers for the entire year, 21% more than in 2022. But even though turnover climbed back to pre-corona levels, Brussels Airlines has been plagued by social unrest for some time, […]
March 04, 2024
French-Dutch airline group Air France-KLM has seen sales and profits rise to record highs in 2023 despite losing in the fourth quarter. The group ended the year with a net profit of 934 million euros, its highest-ever profit figure. Sales rose to 3 billion euros, 14% more than in 2022. These record figures starkly contrast […]
February 22, 2024
European aerospace corporation Airbus and French oil company TotalEnergies are joining forces to address sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) challenges. The partnership should contribute to reducing CO2 emissions from the aviation sector to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Eventually, SAF supplied by TotalEnergies can reduce up to 90% of CO2 emissions over their lifecycle compared […]
February 20, 2024
In December last year, China presented the C919, its first domestically produced airplane. On Tuesday, China’s largest passenger aircraft will be shown internationally for the first time at Singapore Airshow. With the C919, Beijing aims to compete with Airbus and Boeing, the world’s two leading aircraft manufacturers, while becoming less dependent on foreign technologies. A […]
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 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 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 10, 2024
South Korean carmaker Hyundai unveiled in Vegas, at the start of the Consumer Electronics Show 2024, the second S-A2 concept of its four-passenger ‘flying taxi,’ an electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicle. The real ‘take-off’ in the market will not be before 2028, as this one is on static display at the parking lot […]
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 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 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
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 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 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 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 […]
