Increased flights over Brussels 'inhumane' says environment secretary

Brussels environment secretary Ans Persoons (Vooruit.brussels) has condemned the increased noise pollution caused by the RNP-07 flight path over the municipalities in the north of the Brussels region, calling it "inhumane".

“We need a better distribution; this situation is no longer acceptable,” Persoons said, emphasising that Brussels must be at the negotiating table to find a solution.

The use of the RNP-07 flight path, announced last summer as a temporary and emergency measure, is scheduled to continue at least until the end of October despite protests by residents’ groups and criticism from authorities.

This particular flight path results in periods of intensive, low-altitude overflights during both day and night, affecting some 450,000 people in Brussels.

The flight path began being used in 2025 “due to works on other runways at Brussels Airport”, according to Persoons, though the airport has stated that the reasons are varied and include "exceptional circumstances" and "emergency situations".

The weather also plays a decisive role: aircraft must land into the wind, and when the wind is blowing from the east or north-east, only the alternative runway 07 allows this. Another factor cited is a structural shift in these wind patterns, caused by climate change.

Persoons said she had “received hundreds of emails” regarding the “inhumane” nature of this heavily used flight path.

“Parents complain that their children can no longer sleep at night. Others say they want to move away because of the noise pollution,” said Persoons.

“The people of Brussels fear that this flight path will become permanent. It’s being used three to four times more often than before. In reality, this is an air corridor where noise has a very significant impact on people’s lives and quality of life.”

Persoons strongly criticised the lack of consultation and is calling for a fairer distribution of the noise pollution suffered.

Some affected Brussels municipalities, including Koekelberg, Molenbeek and Schaerbeek are taking legal action over the flight path.

Acting Schaerbeek mayor Martin De Brabant (MR) told Bruzz that the municipal executive had given the green light for legal action, but that this still needs to be approved by the municipal council.

After the expected approval, the municipality will then engage a lawyer to, among other things, determine whether the municipality would be best advised to join Koekelberg’s ongoing proceedings - as Molenbeek has already done - or to bring a new case against the Belgian state.

De Brabant said the runway is now being used regularly, whereas it was originally “intended solely for exceptional circumstances or emergency scenarios”.

The approach path for runway RNP-07L runs over densely populated neighbourhoods in Molenbeek, Koekelberg, Jette, Laeken, Haren, Schaerbeek and Evere.

The route is now also digitally fixed to a specific path, meaning aircraft will henceforth always follow exactly the same route, resulting in even heavier air traffic over certain neighbourhoods.

This is due to the gradual introduction of new European air navigation standards which encourage the use of satellite-based navigation, allowing for more precise flight paths but also more repetitive ones.

De Brabant and Schaerbeek’s environment alderwoman Justine Harzé (PS) point to a petition by Free Air Brussels North which has now gathered more than 9,000 signatures.

“The situation has become completely untenable in recent months,” Harzé told Bruzz. “We hope that as many municipalities as possible will take legal action to ensure this stops.”

The mayors of Schaerbeek, Koekelberg and Molenbeek have already complained on several occasions, including during a meeting with federal mobility minister Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés) in February, the outcome of which they called "disappointing" at the time.

In the meantime, residents of the affected areas continue to submit complaints regarding the noise.

“From midnight onwards, there are more planes than stars in the sky over Molenbeek,” one local resident told RTL. “Insomnia, migraines… it’s becoming unbearable.”

Another Molenbeek resident claimed their neighbours sold their home over the issue, while an Evere resident said the situation is even worse there: “We get a plane every two minutes, day and night. Our children can no longer sleep.”

Minister Crucke’s office said analyses are currently under way regarding the flight path with an aim to determine whether its use can be sustained in the long term and to what extent other flight paths could be considered to limit disruption, while complying with European standards.