Belgian court ends legal battle over alleged illegal Antwerp Airport runway extension

Belgium’s Court of Cassation has brought an end to a more than decade-long legal dispute over the runway and safety area at Antwerp Airport, confirming that the runway was not illegally extended.

The court rejected an appeal by action group Verlenging Nooit and several local residents, leaving earlier acquittals of the Flemish Region and LOM Vlaanderen in place. The case concerned allegations that the runway had effectively been extended during the construction of a tunnel for the adjacent Krijgsbaan (R11), and that the Runway End Safety Area (RESA) beyond the runway had been illegally paved or used.

The R11 was tunnelled alongside the airport in 2016, allowing an obstacle-free safety area to be created beyond the runway end. Before the tunnel was built, traffic on the Krijgsbaan had to be stopped whenever aircraft took off or landed in certain directions. The runway itself, however, remained 1,510 metres long. Antwerp Airport also states that its later 2022 runway renovation did not extend or widen the runway.

The first criminal proceedings were launched in 2019 by Verlenging Nooit and several residents against the Flemish Region, LOM Vlaanderen, LEM Antwerp and two civil servants. The defendants were acquitted in November 2020. A separate case concerning the alleged unlawful use of the RESA was dismissed in February 2024, while an appeal court confirmed the relevant rulings on January 28, 2026.