2023-12-25 10:58:20
Will he land on time or not? The question arises at a time when the plan to put an end to short-distance air flights, considered an environmental aberration, is presented to the Belgian Council of Ministers. There remain, in fact, less than six months before the end of the legislature and these thefts that we call “leapfrogs” promise to irritate the political and economic world to the point of nervous breakdown.
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What is it about? To ban commercial flights as well as private jets traveling within Belgian airspace. That’s not all: Flanders suggested extending this ban up to 25 kilometers beyond Belgium’s borders, which would have an impact on flights taking off from a domestic airport for Luxembourg, but also for Eindhoven and Maastricht. A quick measurement reveals that Findel is located around twenty kilometers from the border. And that jets which could take off there for Belgium would therefore be affected.
An environmental heresy
These short-distance flights are presented by environmentalists as environmental heresy. Their number has continued to grow over the years. In 2022, it represented 71% of flights within Belgium, compared to 55% in 2019. Because they are mainly done by private jet, the pollution per passenger would be 11 times higher than that of a flight. normal”.
“Continuing to tolerate casual plane flights is absolute nonsense. These flights, which depart and arrive on Belgian territory, cover very short distances, often less than 100 km. The result is a carbon footprint per kilometer which is, proportionally, the highest,” insists the Minister of Mobility, ecologist Georges Gilkinet.
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The initial draft provides that “the ban will apply to all jet or turboprop aircraft. In other words, jet planes for transporting passengers or goods as well as jets. In his communication, Minister Gilkinet recalls Belgium’s European commitments: “Our climate objectives (-55% carbon emissions by 2030, carbon neutrality by 2050) require the economic world to change course, particularly in matters of transport. However, “despite technological innovations, aviation emissions (CO2, NOx, particles, etc.) continue to increase in view of the growth of the sector. If jump flights are (and fortunately!) not the majority in our skies, it is all the more important to tackle them as they are, among all types of flights, the most carbon-intensive: take-off and landing phases being the most energy-consuming and polluting, the carbon footprint per kilometer is therefore higher the shorter the flight.”
Several exceptions are provided
A series of exceptions are, however, provided for: emergencies (disaster, relief, police or military missions, etc.); research, surveillance, maintenance and training missions; finally, missions linked to weather conditions or other exceptional circumstances.
This summer, Groen, the Flemish counterpart of Ecolo, requested a tax of “at least 3,000 euros” per private jet flight in Belgium. The proposal was described as “populist” by the president of the Reform Movement (MR, French-speaking liberal) Georges-Louis Bouchez, who said he was “tired of the taxing rage” of the two green parties.
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The issue indeed promises to be divisive between the Greens and the Liberals, parties which govern together at the federal level. The former are keen to show that they know how to defend Mother Nature, despite the hiccups recorded over the last two years (nuclear, PFAS, etc.). The latter present themselves as heralds of free enterprise, which involves these short-distance flights which allow businessmen to potentially accelerate the progress of business.
A European desire
The environmentalist desire to ban “flea jumping” should not stop at Belgium. “The Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union – which begins on January 1 – will be an opportunity to accelerate this movement among other Member States and to invite the European Commission to take its responsibilities in this area. And we will be all the stronger to carry this debate if we have first shown the way through initial national measures,” argues the Gilkinet cabinet.
Note also that last April, a new system for modulating terminal charges came into force at Brussels-National airport. Its objective is to promote less noisy, less polluting aviation. It would already discourage flying short distances (less than 500 km). This mechanism is described as a “European first”. Certain airlines, which feel wronged, have decided to attack it at the Council of State.
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