2023-04-22 11:41:00
I insist on the word “attempt”, because others before him, with the same skill and the same desire, from Jacqueline Galant to François Bellot via Melchior Wathelet, broke their teeth over an insoluble file, and certainly when we come to an election campaign. Judge for yourself: the national airport is a political, economic, community and environmental dimension at the same time. Everything is in place for it to explode, but the ecologist Georges Gilkinet wants to tackle it anyway and limit night flights. It promises to be interesting.
Our national airport is not bad, but it might still be better. Understand: the two years of Covid have worn him down and the financial losses have been enormous. But for the past two years, air traffic, passenger and freight, has picked up well, and profit margins have once once more been generated for what is Belgium’s second economic center following the port of Antwerp. It is estimated that more than 15,000 jobs depend directly and indirectly on Zaventem.
Zaventem is a private airport, headed by CEO Arnaud Feist, who also has to deal with public shareholders, since the federal state holds 25% of the capital. It’s not easy, because there is a natural tendency on the part of the public authorities to get involved in everything and in particular by wanting to appoint the banker Wouter Gabriels, former chief of staff of Guy Verhofstadt, whose private shareholders do not want . Result: no president at the airport for two years.
But that’s far from the main bug. Brussels is one of the airports with the longest waits at passport control posts, because there are not enough police officers to do this task. It’s as simple as that. We’ve been asking for additional officers for months, even years. Since Zaventem is in Flemish territory, the police must be Flemish, but there are none, there are no more, no Flemish want to become Flemish anymore. So either we send Francophones to the airport to check passports, or we delegate this mission to the private sector. Which is not going to please the unions. In the meantime, it is the passengers who are waiting in the queues.
Another problem to solve: the service of this large airport. Georges Gilkinet tackles night flights. We’ll see what comes out of it, but the priority is also to connect Zaventem by fast train to Paris, Amsterdam or Germany. How is it that SNCB, over which the minister is responsible, has not yet started this work? It is the basics of an airport to be well connected to the international railway and, moreover, it makes it possible to limit, even to eliminate the flights “jumps of chip”, hyper impacting for the environment.
We should be able to go by Thalys or TGV directly from the airport to Europe, that’s clear. In Amsterdam, we will also take measures. Alongside the question of the train/plane connection and night flights, the question of aviation must be considered on an overall plan. This is what the Dutch government is currently trying to do with Amsterdam airport. Definitely, we always come back to the Netherlands and their ingenuity.
Is it said to be “Dutchophile”?
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