Belgium’s Court of Cassation has ended the long-running legal fight over Antwerp Airport’s runway works, rejecting the final appeal by action group Verlenging Nooit and nearby residents. The ruling leaves the Flemish Region, LOM Vlaanderen and other parties cleared over claims that the Deurne airport runway was illegally extended during works linked to the Krijgsbaan/R11 tunnel project and a runway end safety area.
The case centred on allegations of an unlawful runway extension, illegal hardening of the RESA and improper use of that safety zone. The court did not revisit the facts, but checked whether the earlier judges had applied the law and procedure correctly. It upheld the acquittals that had already been confirmed at appeal level in January 2026.
The runway remains 1,510 metres long, according to the reporting, and the final ruling removes legal uncertainty around the airport’s runway configuration and safety-area setup. The dispute had stretched back more than a decade, with the first case brought in 2019 and earlier acquittals in 2020 and 2024 before the latest cassation decision.