Brussels Airlines and sister airlines Lufthansa and Swiss are going to the Council of State against the new system of variable airfares at Brussels Airport. The new fares will take effect on 1 April.

The airlines’ appeal is against the Terminal Navigation Charges elaborated by Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo). The charges, which must be paid to air traffic controller Skeyes, are variable, according to aircraft noise, emissions, and flight distance.

For polluting aircraft and short flights under 500 km, fares will go up, and private jets, which are still almost entirely exempt from taxes as they are not subject to European emissions trading and kerosine is untaxed, will also have to pay more.

It will also become more expensive to land or depart very early in the morning or very late at night. Airlines that are committed to the environment will then be rewarded again. According to Gilkinet, the tax will be 25% cheaper to 40% more expensive on average.

Counterproductive

According to the airlines, the new rules hinder their own efforts to move toward zero CO2 emissions by 2050. For instance, they point out that using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is not encouraged, for example, in the form of lower charges.

The airlines also denounce the additional charges on short-haul flights, especially for destinations for which there is no alternative in the form of high-speed rail. They also call those flights “the most environmentally efficient part of air transport”, a somewhat strange statement. At the same time, the consensus is great about the fact that the overall climate impact of a train journey to, say, Vienna, Barcelona, or Copenhagen is up to ten times smaller than the same journey by plane.

In Brussels Airlines’ reasoning, they cannot use the money they lose from those charges to invest in SAF or new aircraft – the airline hopes to fly out of the right this year.  They also fear “a negative impact on the airport’s important role as a hub, a role already weakened by the embarkation tax in force since 2022”.

Charleroi cheaper

Among others, Irish airline Ryanair has closed its base at Brussels Airport and swapped it for Charleroi airport as fares have been raised. “Zaventem is the third most expensive airport in our network of more than 250 airports,” O’Leary said of his decision. At Brussels South Charleroi Airport, fares have also increased, but to a more limited extent. O’Leary said they are “more than half lower” than at Zavented.

However, Dutch holiday giant Corendon will double its capacity at Brussels Airport, while that at Schiphol is decreasing. For them, flying from Belgium is cheaper as fares at Schiphol have risen, and the Dutch flight tax has tripled.

Stricter rules on the way

In June, Minister Gilkinet also plans to put a proposal on the government table to reform the ‘quota count’ system, a score for each aircraft based on their noise level. “The rules have not been adjusted for 14 years,” he told the newspaper Le Soir. “The objective is to tighten them up to encourage airlines to use their less noisy planes to visit Brussels.”

Brussels Airport also wants to expand and needs to apply for a new environment permit. For example, the airport wants to increase the number of annual passengers by a fifth and double the number of cargo flights in ten years. However, several municipalities from the northern edge of Brussels fear the impact of these plans and have already reacted negatively to them.