A
ministerial instruction issued by the Minister or his administration
(of unknown date and form) has modified since July 13 the
runway selection system at Brussels airport.
According to
the burgomasters of Wezembeek-Oppem and Kraainem, as well as the
local associations Wake Up Kraainem, AWACSS and UBCNA, “this
Preferential Runaway System (PRS)
tracks cannot be modified for a long period of time without a
regulatory instruction that complies with the French Air Code, and the
from 1954 and 2014. Only the Minister or his representative, the Director
general of air transport, can take such instructions”.
For Fréderic Petit, mayor of Wezembeek-Oppem, “since Monday 13th July 2020, in spite of numerous court rulings that prohibit the principle of reversal and the abusive use of the 01 runway on landing, and various environmental shutdowns, only runway 01/19 is used for all rollover traffic, so it’s either SOUTH to NORTH on 01 landings or in the opposite direction NORTH to SOUTH on take-off 19. This leads to 100% total concentration of all flights in a single zone, which is affected by either 100% of landings or 100% of landings. take-offs. Yet only one runway is closed: 07L/25R. The totally unacceptable suffering for the inhabitants who do not close their eyes! ” .
However, the Wake-Up KRAAINEM and AWACSS local residents’ associations, “other schemes use of existing runways such as 07R/25L. The company Skeyes, the autonomous public air traffic control company, does not use the 07R/25L runway when it’s available; the 25L runway could very well be well be used for landings, especially as the landings 25L arrive by flying over meadows and fields, through a non buildable”.
For the Mayor of Kraainem,
Bertrand Waucquez, “We need to be constructive and reasonable. He
is to limit night flights. I recommend using
also the following diagrams (landing and take-off):
– 25L/25L (only when traffic is light, since runway 25L has no taxiway leading to its end)
– 07R/07R
– 25L landings and 01 takeoffs (the lowest-noise scheme historically used at night)
– 19 landings and 07R take-offs (the least-noise scheme used during earlier work)
He
continues: “However, here we have chosen to concentrate solely on the
serious evaluation of alternative solutions, all the traffic on the
track 01/19 regardless of the wind’s origin, even if it means using this scheme
with overtaking dangerous for downwind safety. The
a risky situation, to be avoided wherever possible”.
All deploring the lack of forecasts from Brussels Airport (which could have carried out this work during the containment period at the beginning of May) at a time when the airline industry was at a virtual standstill, L’Union Belge Contre Nuisances (UBCNA)” reminds us that, compared with other tracks available, it should be noted that track 01/19 is the equipped, the shortest, the only one with a slope, not having high-speed exits and end-of-track clearance areas, the only one which, in its final phase, crosses over three electrified at 3,000 volts direct current, which requires crossings to be of aircraft on the ground in use with 07R take-offs. What must is safety and health”.
For conclusion, the mayors and local residents’ associations concerned request Minister Bellot and Skeyes to urgently review which unilaterally modified the selection system for pistes.