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Belgian state ordered to pay millions in compensation due to air traffic noise pollution

A plane comes into land over houses near the Brussels airport, Zaventem (BELGA PHOTO)
11:09 29/10/2020

Belgium's Court of Appeal has ordered the Belgian state to pay millions of euros to more than 300 residents living in the proximity of runway 02/20 at the national airport in Zaventem.

Since 2004, the Belgian state has allowed the occasional use of the shorter runway despite the fact that it required a flight path of densely populated areas. But instead of it being used sporadically, the runway has seen an increase in preferential use.

The increase in flights and noise pollution arising from these led to a legal complaint being issued by the Wake-Up Kraainem association, representing more than 300 inhabitants of the municipalities of Kraainem, Wezembeek-Oppem and Woluwe-Saint-Pierre.

The Court of Appeal recognised that the runway configuration resulted in overflights of highly densely populated areas at low altitudes, and therefore causing increased noise pollution, especially when landings took place on the short runway.

The court stated that the Belgian state "committed faults by deciding on the preferential use of Runway 02 on 28 February 2004 " and by changing wind standards in August 2003, which increased the use of this short runway.   

The increased use of the runway continued despite an overall reduction of flights in and out of Zaventem due to a number of crises in the air sector, such as the collapse of the national carrier Sabena, the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, the economic and financial crisis of 2008, the relocation of international courier DHL and the 2016 terrorist attacks in Brussels.   

The Court of Appeal reported a near doubling of the use of runway 02/20 for landings between the periods 1997-2003 (8,876 per year) and 2004-2018 (15,759 per year).

In March 2017, the court had already established the Belgian state was at fault under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights which enshrines the right to the protection of a healthy environment, for the period from 8 February 2004 until 31 December 2011.

The court recognises that a public health problem has been caused on the basis of the level of noise pollution experienced by the residents which exceeds the noise thresholds set by the World Health Organization (WHO). It also establishes that the damage suffered by residents during years of excessive air pollution must be addressed.

Written by Nick Amies