Together with the further recovery of air traffic after the corona crisis, noise pollution around Brussels Airport will also increase again in 2023. A total of 13,432 local residents suffered “potentially significant inconvenience” from taking off and landing aircraft last year. This is evident from the annual study into the airport’s noise impact.
There were 192,257 flight movements at the airport last year, a further recovery after three years impacted by the corona crisis. But compared to 2019, before the corona pandemic, the number of flight movements was still 18 percent lower.
Noise pollution in the municipalities around the airport is closer to 2019 levels. Aviation consultant To70 Belgium calculated that last year 89,215 people lived in a zone with a noise load of at least 55 decibels, 8 percent less than in 2019.
Not everyone experiences a certain noise level as annoying. The number of “potentially highly inconvenienced people” is therefore calculated each time using a complex formula. In 2023 there were 13,432, more than 14 percent more than in 2022 and 7.2 percent less than in 2019.
The noise impact is concentrated over five municipalities: Machelen (with 2,825 “potentially highly inconvenienced” residents), Zaventem (2,225), Brussels City (1,830), Steenokkerzeel (1,725) and Evere (1,542). Together they accommodate three quarters of all “potentially highly inconvenienced people”.
Quieter landing techniques
Compared to 2019, the noise impact has decreased in most municipalities around Brussels Airport. Grimbergen and Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe have even fallen completely outside the area with a noise load of at least 55 decibels and no longer have potentially highly inconvenienced residents. On the other hand, there are more potentially highly inconvenienced people than in 2019 in the municipalities under the landing route to runway 01 (flying from the south): Kraainem, Wezembeek-Oppem and Sint-Pieters-Woluwe. This is because runway 01 was used more often due to weather conditions. There are also more people who are potentially highly inconvenienced than in 2019 in Steenokkerzeel and Kampenhout, under the landing route to runway 25R (from the east). “There has been a slight increase in noise pollution,” the researchers say.
Brussels Airport expects that the noise impact around the airport will decrease in the coming years, despite the expected growth in passengers and cargo, and in the number of local residents. By 2032, the number of potentially highly inconvenienced people would be 12 percent lower than in 2019, which corresponds to approximately 12,700. This is possible because more and more flights will be operated with the “most modern and noise-efficient aircraft” and thanks to the use of quieter landing techniques, the airport said recently.
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