Flanders joins Brussels in protest of new flight routes

The government of Flanders yesterday invoked a constitutional measure to stop the implementation of changes to the routes used by aircraft taking off from Brussels Airport. By invoking a conflict of interest, Flanders has now suspended any movement by the federal government on the issue for 60 days.

The protest concerns a decision by federal secretary of state Melchior Wathelet to adapt the take-off routes of some flights to ease the noise pollution over Brussels districts Etterbeek, Oudergem and Watermaal-Bosvoorde. Critics complained that the changes, the so-called Wathelet Plan, favoured the three upscale, mainly French-speaking municipalities, to the detriment of the residents of the Flemish periphery of Brussels.

Flanders introduced the conflict of interest block on territorial grounds. “The problems of the southern part of Brussels should not be passed on to the northern Flemish periphery,” said Flanders’ minister for the Vlaamse rand, or Flemish belt around Brussels, Geert Bourgeois. The Wathelet Plan, he argued, was a unilateral federal decision with effects for Flanders, and therefore a conflict of the interests of the two governments.

In an internal memo leaked to Le Soir newspaper, meanwhile, air traffic controllers Belgocontrol noted that a new route plan could only be introduced after a detailed study. Until then, only changes to Saturday afternoon and Sunday take-offs were possible. The time allowed by the Wathelet Plan was insufficient, the document concludes.

The conflict of interest move means Belgocontrol cannot legally implement the Wathelet plan, supporters said. If it were to do so, the government would seek to overturn that decision before the Council of State.

The issue will be furthered handled by the Concertation Committee, made up of representatives of the federal and regional governments, which will produce a report within 60 days.

photo by Maxim Roelen