>*Approached by Ostend, the cargo operator Challenge is not declining the invitation to relocate its Liege activities there if the government curbs the development of the Walloon airport.*
>
>Once again on the table of the Walloon government this Thursday, the future of Liege airport remains uncertain. At issue is a political blockage over the environmental permit that could hinder the development of Liege Airport’s activities and those of its operators on the tarmac.
>
>This is a subject of political crisis in Namur, to the point of destabilizing the PS-MR-Ecolo majority, and the issue could take on a community dimension with the steps taken by Ostend Airport.
>
>The rumor had been circulating for several weeks. “Flemish airports have approached cargo operators based in Liege to try to attract them to their airports,” said a Walloon player in the dossier recently, without having been directly approached. Today, the risk of seeing part of Liege’s cargo activity relocate to Ostend has been confirmed and echoes the future environmental permit for Liege Airport.
>
>**The operator Challenge approached**
>
>Faced with the political turn of events surrounding the environmental permit for Liege Airport and the possibility of the Walloon government limiting the number of movements to 50,000 per year, the cargo company Challenge has decided to come out of the woodwork today.
>
>”We have been approached by Ostend airport. Just this weekend, following the bad weather in Liege, Ostend contacted us to see if we wanted to divert flights to them. The contacts are not broken. But Ostend is not the only airport to approach us to try to attract us. There are some in Germany”, explains the management of the Challenge group.
>
>For Challenge’s management, the possibility of moving its cargo activity from Liege to Ostend is clearly on the table. “There are contacts with Ostend but no decision has been taken. However, things could go very quickly and it could come to that if political common sense does not prevail”, says Challenge, which sees this as more than a hypothetical threat.
>
>”Moving to Ostend is realistic and potentially possible. There are warehouses under construction and the airport has plans to develop a logistics hub. You have to realize that there are not many cargo operators like us in the world.
>
>”**Pressure on Walloon ministers**
>
>Behind this confirmation, Challenge’s management explains what could encourage it to leave Liege. “There is a business plan at Liege Airport that was validated by the political world last March. The environmental permit as it was drafted in August goes against this business plan. Our will, and that of the other operators, is to stay in Liege. Liege is our priority and is a very well rated airport internationally. We have made many investments there. We don’t want politics to push us into taking regrettable positions.
>
>”Present in Liege since 1995, the Challenge group employs 800 people on site. “We have four aircraft based in Liege and our fleet will increase by four more this year. They won’t be noisy planes like the 747-400. By 2026, we will have 12 aircraft and hire 300 people.”
>
>Aware of the noise impact of the notorious 747-400s, the cargo operator assures that these planes operating in Liege will eventually no longer fly. “But we can’t change that in two or three years. The speed of the Walloon permit is too fast compared to what is being implemented internationally. There is a whole reorganization to be carried out with the slots, but in 10-12 years, these 747-400s will no longer be flying. We made constructive proposals to the Walloon government last week. This counter-proposal integrates environmental, social and economic issues. The politicians have everything in their hands. We hope that common sense will prevail.”
>
>**ADP threatens to sell its stake**
>
>The Challenge operator is not the only player to be concerned about the political discussions surrounding the future of Liege airport. In a letter sent to several Walloon government ministers on January 20, ADP Group (formerly Aéroports de Paris) put the future of its financial stake in Liege Airport on the table.
>
>ADP, which holds a 25% stake in the Walloon airport, sees the environmental permit as a threat. “We are opposed to a decision on the environmental permit that would significantly limit the airport’s activity or lead to a substantial change in the economic balance of the project. It would be likely to open up, under the terms of the agreements that bind us, the possibility for ADP Group to exercise a put option.”
>
>**”Flanders envies the success of our airports”**
>
>The Walloon minister in charge of airports, the liberal Adrien Dolimont, does not minimize this threat of relocation to Ostend. “The airport business is a very competitive business. It makes no sense to say that all environmental and nuisance problems will be solved only at one airport. We are just going to move the problem. These relocations are a fear. Flanders envies the success of our airports. It would be dramatic to lose all that.
>
>”The minister pleads with his colleagues for a balanced solution, which could be a change in the take-off time for 747-400s. “The real problem of the airport for local residents is the noise pollution. It is not the number of movements. It is not by defining the number of movements that we will solve this problem of nuisance. We need to stay within the assumptions that have been defined for airport development and think about solutions around the real problem that are the 747-400s and ask ourselves if there is a possibility of moving these flights outside of the disturbing hours at night.”
Why we seem to need all of these small airports is beyond me.
Other than vanity, I see no benefit to any other airport than Brussels Airport Zaventem.
2 comments
>*Approached by Ostend, the cargo operator Challenge is not declining the invitation to relocate its Liege activities there if the government curbs the development of the Walloon airport.*
>
>Once again on the table of the Walloon government this Thursday, the future of Liege airport remains uncertain. At issue is a political blockage over the environmental permit that could hinder the development of Liege Airport’s activities and those of its operators on the tarmac.
>
>This is a subject of political crisis in Namur, to the point of destabilizing the PS-MR-Ecolo majority, and the issue could take on a community dimension with the steps taken by Ostend Airport.
>
>The rumor had been circulating for several weeks. “Flemish airports have approached cargo operators based in Liege to try to attract them to their airports,” said a Walloon player in the dossier recently, without having been directly approached. Today, the risk of seeing part of Liege’s cargo activity relocate to Ostend has been confirmed and echoes the future environmental permit for Liege Airport.
>
>**The operator Challenge approached**
>
>Faced with the political turn of events surrounding the environmental permit for Liege Airport and the possibility of the Walloon government limiting the number of movements to 50,000 per year, the cargo company Challenge has decided to come out of the woodwork today.
>
>”We have been approached by Ostend airport. Just this weekend, following the bad weather in Liege, Ostend contacted us to see if we wanted to divert flights to them. The contacts are not broken. But Ostend is not the only airport to approach us to try to attract us. There are some in Germany”, explains the management of the Challenge group.
>
>For Challenge’s management, the possibility of moving its cargo activity from Liege to Ostend is clearly on the table. “There are contacts with Ostend but no decision has been taken. However, things could go very quickly and it could come to that if political common sense does not prevail”, says Challenge, which sees this as more than a hypothetical threat.
>
>”Moving to Ostend is realistic and potentially possible. There are warehouses under construction and the airport has plans to develop a logistics hub. You have to realize that there are not many cargo operators like us in the world.
>
>”**Pressure on Walloon ministers**
>
>Behind this confirmation, Challenge’s management explains what could encourage it to leave Liege. “There is a business plan at Liege Airport that was validated by the political world last March. The environmental permit as it was drafted in August goes against this business plan. Our will, and that of the other operators, is to stay in Liege. Liege is our priority and is a very well rated airport internationally. We have made many investments there. We don’t want politics to push us into taking regrettable positions.
>
>”Present in Liege since 1995, the Challenge group employs 800 people on site. “We have four aircraft based in Liege and our fleet will increase by four more this year. They won’t be noisy planes like the 747-400. By 2026, we will have 12 aircraft and hire 300 people.”
>
>Aware of the noise impact of the notorious 747-400s, the cargo operator assures that these planes operating in Liege will eventually no longer fly. “But we can’t change that in two or three years. The speed of the Walloon permit is too fast compared to what is being implemented internationally. There is a whole reorganization to be carried out with the slots, but in 10-12 years, these 747-400s will no longer be flying. We made constructive proposals to the Walloon government last week. This counter-proposal integrates environmental, social and economic issues. The politicians have everything in their hands. We hope that common sense will prevail.”
>
>**ADP threatens to sell its stake**
>
>The Challenge operator is not the only player to be concerned about the political discussions surrounding the future of Liege airport. In a letter sent to several Walloon government ministers on January 20, ADP Group (formerly Aéroports de Paris) put the future of its financial stake in Liege Airport on the table.
>
>ADP, which holds a 25% stake in the Walloon airport, sees the environmental permit as a threat. “We are opposed to a decision on the environmental permit that would significantly limit the airport’s activity or lead to a substantial change in the economic balance of the project. It would be likely to open up, under the terms of the agreements that bind us, the possibility for ADP Group to exercise a put option.”
>
>**”Flanders envies the success of our airports”**
>
>The Walloon minister in charge of airports, the liberal Adrien Dolimont, does not minimize this threat of relocation to Ostend. “The airport business is a very competitive business. It makes no sense to say that all environmental and nuisance problems will be solved only at one airport. We are just going to move the problem. These relocations are a fear. Flanders envies the success of our airports. It would be dramatic to lose all that.
>
>”The minister pleads with his colleagues for a balanced solution, which could be a change in the take-off time for 747-400s. “The real problem of the airport for local residents is the noise pollution. It is not the number of movements. It is not by defining the number of movements that we will solve this problem of nuisance. We need to stay within the assumptions that have been defined for airport development and think about solutions around the real problem that are the 747-400s and ask ourselves if there is a possibility of moving these flights outside of the disturbing hours at night.”
Why we seem to need all of these small airports is beyond me.
Other than vanity, I see no benefit to any other airport than Brussels Airport Zaventem.