© BELGAIMAGE
Last year, the federal ombudsman identified more than 1,500 suspected violations of the rules for night flights around Brussels Airport. He advocates a stricter approach to night-time cargo flights in particular.
Of the 1,500 suspected violations of the rules on night flights around Brussels Airport, most related to aircraft taking off or landing when they were not permitted to fly at night. This can be due, for example, to delays or because the type of device is prohibited at night because it makes too much noise. The ombudsman service reports these violations to the authorities.
“The fleet of passenger aircraft at Brussels Airport has already been largely modernized,” says ombudsman Philippe Touwaide, but according to him this is not the case for cargo planes. “63 percent of the cargo aircraft active at Brussels Airport date from before 2000. An old Boeing 747 cargo plane that lands late at night or takes off early in the morning at Brussels Airport must be done away with,” said ombudsman Touwaide.
Last year, the ombudsman service received a total of 28,893 complaints from 4,736 people. This concerns approximately the same number of complaints as in 2022, but spread over more people. In November, the ombudsman filed a complaint after 400 threatening emails.
(blg,kba)