Despite the conflict of interests brought up by Flanders, the Brussels government continues to impose fines on airline companies for noise nuisance. However, up to now it has not collected them. This was indicated by the Brussels Airlines spokesman, reacting to the statements by the Flemish Minister of Transport, Ben Weyts (New Flemish Alliance), who wishes to prosecute the Brussels region.
Ben Weyts says that the Brussels government has not complied with the conflict of interests procedure as regards noise nuisance standards for aeroplanes flying over the capital. He is calling, in the wake of the incident, for airlines that have received fines for exceeding noise limits to take legal proceedings through the courts to object to them.
The spokesman from Brussels Airlines, without willingly saying whether or not the Belgian company was legally objecting to the fines, said, “It is right that we continue to receive fines but we are not paying them as the Brussels government is not collecting the sums demanded at the present time.” He went on, “This is a politically sensitive matter. I simply say that we hope that the negotiations allow us to reach an appropriate solution.”
The Brussels Times
