From April 2023, Belgium will introduce revised fees for aircraft that take off or land in this country. These are based on various factors, whereby carbon dioxide and pollutant emissions as well as the noise caused will also play a decisive role.

Night flights will also be charged more in the future. Short-haul flights will be taxed much more heavily in the future. The new criteria not only cover commercial scheduled and charter flights, but also private flights. The calculation should be based on a very complicated model, since numerous factors can influence the amount of the fees up or down.

The first criticism is already being raised, as some airlines criticize that the concept adopted by the Belgian government is so complicated that it is very difficult to keep track of things. The time alone can cause significant price differences. In any case, it is obvious that they want to reduce night flights, want to persuade airlines to use modern aircraft and at the same time want to impose real “penalty taxes” on short-haul flights.

The Belgian Minister of Mobility, Georges Gilkinet, said when presenting the new fee law, among other things: "I want to avoid Brussels airport becoming Europe's noisy toilet and, on the contrary, being one of the best European airports. There is no reason why noisy planes, rejected elsewhere, can continue to come to Brussels and disturb the sleep of millions of Belgians."

However, the country's largest airline, the Lufthansa subsidiary Brussels Airlines, is quite concerned. Company boss Peter Gerber assumes that the Brussels hub could lose its competitiveness and thus its current role in international aviation. Among other things, the manager said: "If these plans are implemented, the airport will lose its competitiveness and become a small provincial airport. They pose a serious threat to Belgium. In particular, our flights to Africa are under threat”.

Brussels Airport and other Belgian airports have also publicly criticized the government's plans. It is feared that one or the other carrier could cut or even withdraw the offer. In addition, business jet flights, which account for around 12 percent of all Belgian air traffic, are also affected. However, Minister Gilkinet counters that private jets have so far benefited from "very favorable tariff conditions and taxes". He adds that these are “around 50 times more harmful than scheduled services”. In the coming months, the Belgian government intends to further tighten the rules in this regard.