Brussels Airport to increase tax on polluting aircrafts

Brussels Airport intends to increase the tax on highly polluting aircrafts in order to discourage companies from flying old aircrafts to Brussels, according to the company CEO. Under new measures, any aircraft that emits more CO2 and fine particles will have to pay more than others from 2021, the airport confirmed on Thursday.

Companies currently pay a tax per passenger carried of about €30 per person. This amount is already three times higher for the oldest of the planes than for the newest model. But the current criteria mainly take into account aircraft noise, not pollutant emissions.

"The aim is to discourage companies from still flying with old aircraft to Brussels", explained its CEO Arnaud Feist.

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The climate issue has become critical in recent months, and the airport now wants to favour modern aircraft with lower emissions. Those flying modern planes will be rewarded whereas big polluters will have to untie the purse strings.

"The ratio is one in ten: a highly polluting aircraft will pay ten times more than a modern one", said Feist. This operation, however, will not generate any additional revenue for the airport, he added.

Jules Johnston
The Brussels Times