Brussels Airport Expected to Levy Tax for Noise, Destination, and Pollution

Aircraft operating out of Belgium's Brussels Airport will see increased costs in the near future, according to reports. 

The upcoming taxes will be levied upon all kinds of trigger conditions, from noise levels in the airport environment, emissions, and destinations. Until now, small aircraft and bizjets have been exempted from the taxes, but that honeymoon may soon be over.

The deputy prime minister (also the minister of transport at the moment) said “The noise pollution experienced by residents near Brussels National Airport, whether they live in Flanders, Brussels or Wallonia, cannot remain as it is.”

The new duties will take effect on April 1st of 2023, with an additional increase on flights less than 310 miles (i.e. a 500 km boundary). The change could alter the level of non-carrier aviation going on in the country, which currently sees 12% of its air traffic coming from the business aviation sector alone. Noise pollution should prove to be a useful tax-cudgel to spur operators to update to newer, quieter, more eco-friendly power plants and aircraft. 

Belgium isn’t the only one. Last October, French officials began talk of increasing taxes on private jets, citing the same basket of eggs as always, from pollution to noise. In the French case, environment minister Christophe Bechu remarked that they had been looking at aligning the taxation of aviation fuel more closely with automotive fuel. No outward headway appears to be made on such a proposal, but it shows where EU heads seem to be, in some parts of the union. As 2030, and even 2050 climate goals loom ever larger on the horizon, such taxes could become the norm sooner than expected. 

FMI: www.brusselsairport.be/