What does the departure of Genk’s firefighting aircraft reveal about Belgium’s wildfire readiness?
Aquarius Aerial Firefighting has cancelled the hangar lease for its four privately owned firefighting aircraft at Zwartberg airfield in Genk, and the planes are expected to move to Vienna rather than return to Belgium after their foreign deployments. The company says its aircraft and pilot training remain available to Belgium, but only through future operational agreements.
The departure removes a visible specialist aviation activity from Genk and exposes the gap between hosting private aircraft and possessing a guaranteed national capability. Belgium must choose whether to reserve private aircraft, invest in helicopters or other domestic assets, or continue relying principally on European mutual assistance during major wildfires.
confirmed on 18 August that its four privately owned firefighting aircraft will leave in after the company cancelled its hangar lease, with the planes expected to be stored in once their current foreign assignments end. Chief executive Wieger Ketellapper said could still hire the aircraft and arrange pilot training, but their physical presence in Limburg never amounted to a guaranteed Belgian firefighting capacity.
That distinction became politically charged after the exceptional wildfire in the exposed how depends on helicopters and international assistance when a fire outgrows local resources. The European Commission says Belgium activated the on 15 August. Two Swedish aircraft subsequently joined six helicopters from the Netherlands, Germany and Norway, alongside specialist teams and European satellite mapping.
The four aircraft associated with are AT-802 Fire Boss planes operated by Aquarius, a subsidiary of Luxembourg-based cargo group Cargolux. They can scoop water while moving across a suitable lake or other open-water surface and then drop it over a fire. VRT NWS reported when the Genk arrangement was announced in February 2025 that each aircraft could collect about 3,000 litres and that the intended role of Zwartberg included winter storage, light maintenance and pilot training.
They were nevertheless commercial aircraft, not assets bought, leased or placed on permanent standby by the Belgian state. Aquarius deployed them where it had operational contracts, including in southern Europe and Turkey. During the , therefore could not simply order the aircraft back from abroad because they happened to have used a Belgian hangar.
Ketellapper told Het Nieuwsblad that moving storage to made commercial sense because heavy maintenance already took place there and the site is closer to important operating markets such as Turkey. He also said an Aquarius aircraft in Luxembourg had been readied after expressed interest during the emergency, but that the request was cancelled because the airspace above the fire was already becoming crowded. That account has not been independently documented in a Belgian government communiqué.
Federal Defence Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade Theo Francken of the New Flemish Alliance initially called the possible loss of the base “unacceptable” if obstruction by local authorities had driven the decision. He said he would contact the Governor of Limburg and argued that should examine a future rental arrangement. His intervention gave the episode a national political dimension, although Defence is not the sole authority responsible for managing civilian wildfires.
’s division of responsibilities matters here. Municipal emergency services and the country’s fire-and-rescue zones lead the initial response. A governor coordinates during a provincial emergency phase, while the federal crisis machinery becomes involved when the scale demands it. The federal police and Defence can provide aircraft or other support after a request from the civil authorities. The Federal Public Service Home Affairs sets civil-security procedures, while access to particular lakes, canals or recreational waters can also involve municipal authorities and Flemish water or environmental bodies. The European Commission coordinates international offers when Belgium activates the EU mechanism.
The disagreement over water-scooping practice illustrates the institutional tangle. Frank De Paepe, president and head of training at the Koninklijke Limburgse Vleugels flying school, told Het Nieuwsblad that the lack of nearby authorisation to practise scooping had reduced ’s usefulness. Peter Nies, Mayor of Kinrooi, said his municipality had not objected in principle but had concerns about recreational activity and planned development around the gravel lakes. Other municipalities and the Flemish Environment Agency reportedly said they had not received equivalent requests concerning other suggested waters.
Aquarius presented a different emphasis. Ketellapper said the principal logic was operational efficiency: storage and maintenance could be combined in , while the aircraft spent much of the wildfire season outside anyway. He described as a good location and maintained that training could continue there if customers requested it. The available reporting therefore does not establish that a single permit refusal forced the company out.
The aircraft’s departure is locally significant because Zwartberg loses a specialised aviation activity that had raised the airfield’s training profile. It is more consequential nationally as a correction to a public misconception: briefly hosted firefighting planes, but it did not own them and had no standing contract ensuring their availability. Their silhouettes on a Limburg apron looked like capacity; institutionally, they were only proximity.
’s established wildfire procedure instead relies on ground crews, Civil Protection resources, federal police helicopters and foreign reinforcement when domestic means are insufficient. The federal civil-security procedure states that foreign aerial support can be requested after a provincial or federal emergency phase is declared and must be integrated under specially trained air-operations coordination. This helps explain why adding another aircraft during an already crowded operation is not automatic.
The broader policy question in the current 2024-2029 federal and regional legislative cycle is whether increasingly severe fires justify a permanent Belgian aerial capability, a framework contract with private operators, greater helicopter capacity, or continued reliance on European pooling. Francken has favoured acquiring heavy-lift helicopters and announced work on a military fire-response plan, while the earlier position reported by VRT NWS from the Federal Public Service Home Affairs was that had too few protected scooping locations to justify buying its own firefighting planes and could rely on helicopters and European assistance.
Europe’s shared reserve remains substantial but finite. For the 2026 season, the European Commission placed 22 aircraft and five helicopters on standby across participating countries. Those assets can move to when available, yet simultaneous fires elsewhere can constrain the system. The Commission’s Joint Research Centre reported that the EU area burned by 12 August was already well above the 20-year average for that point in the season.
What happens next is therefore less about persuading four aircraft to remain parked in than about defining what wants to purchase, reserve and train for. The federal government must decide whether it will negotiate an availability contract, reinforce helicopter-based capacity or rely primarily on . Limburg’s authorities and relevant water managers can separately clarify where safe scooping exercises would be permitted. Until those decisions are made, Aquarius remains a potential supplier, not Belgium’s airborne fire brigade.
Impact
Regional — Zwartberg airfield loses the regular storage of four specialist aircraft and may lose some associated training and maintenance activity. Training could still continue if Aquarius and Belgian partners reach separate agreements.
Local — Zwartberg airfield in Genk will lose the regular storage of four specialist firefighting aircraft. The departure may also remove some associated training and maintenance activity from the city, although Aquarius says training could continue under separate agreements with Belgian partners. For Genk, the immediate effect is therefore economic and operational visibility rather than the loss of publicly owned emergency equipment: the aircraft were private, and neither the city nor Belgium had guaranteed priority access to them.
International — The episode highlights Belgium’s reliance on cross-border emergency assistance when domestic resources are insufficient. During the High Fens fire, Belgium activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism on 15 August 2026, leading to the coordination of two Swedish firefighting planes and six foreign helicopters. Moving Aquarius’s storage operation to Vienna also shifts the company’s physical base farther east while leaving future Belgian access dependent on commercial agreements. The policy choice is whether to secure national capacity or continue leaning principally on European mutual assistance.
What it means for you
Residents and travellers do not need to take immediate action because the move does not withdraw a Belgian public firefighting fleet: Belgium never owned these aircraft or held priority rights. The practical issue is response capacity during future wildfire emergencies. Watch for federal decisions on reserving private aircraft, buying or assigning helicopters or other domestic assets, and arranging access through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. People near wildfire areas should continue following local emergency instructions; Aquarius aircraft would serve Belgium only if authorities conclude a future operational agreement.
Opposing perspectives
- Theo Francken and the national-capacity frame
Federal Defence Minister Theo Francken described the possible loss of the Genk base as unacceptable if local obstruction caused it. His frame treats the aircraft's presence as an opportunity Belgium should preserve while the federal government considers rental arrangements and stronger military support for major fires.
- Aquarius and the commercial-efficiency frame
Aquarius Chief Executive Officer Wieger Ketellapper says the departure is less dramatic: the aircraft were never reserved for Belgium, and Vienna combines storage with existing maintenance while sitting closer to important operating markets. The company says Belgium can still contract the planes and organise training.
- Kinrooi municipality and the local-safety frame
Mayor Peter Nies said Kinrooi had no fundamental objection to emergency operations but questioned regular training on gravel lakes also used for recreation and development. This frame distinguishes urgent firefighting access from routine commercial exercises requiring local risk management.
- Home Affairs and the pooled-capacity frame
The position previously reported from the Federal Public Service Home Affairs was that Belgium's geography and limited protected scooping sites weakened the case for buying dedicated aircraft. It favoured helicopter support and European mutual assistance, placing guaranteed coordination above locally parked planes.
Who, where and what
Key people, places and terms in this story
Country assessing how to secure aerial capacity for future wildfire emergencies.
Belgian region affected by the August 2026 wildfire that prompted an international assistance request.
European coordination system activated by Belgium to obtain international wildfire assistance.
Genk airfield where the four Aquarius aircraft were stored and used for some training.
Flemish city whose airfield is losing the regular storage of the four aircraft.
Show the full library (15)
Genk airfield where the four Aquarius aircraft were stored and used for some training.
Flemish city whose airfield is losing the regular storage of the four aircraft.
Country assessing how to secure aerial capacity for future wildfire emergencies.
Belgian region affected by the August 2026 wildfire that prompted an international assistance request.
Expected new storage location for the aircraft and an existing location for heavier maintenance.
Wildfire during which Belgium activated the EU Civil Protection Mechanism on 15 August 2026.
European coordination system activated by Belgium to obtain international wildfire assistance.
European Union reserve framework relevant to shared aerial firefighting capacity.
Luxembourg-linked commercial operator that owned the four firefighting aircraft stored at Zwartberg.
Aircraft type used by Aquarius for aerial firefighting.
Local authority that did not own the aircraft or possess guaranteed priority access.
European Commission office that documented European assistance for Belgium during the High Fens fire.
Commission department responsible for civil protection and humanitarian aid reporting on the European wildfire response.
Belgian institution that published the 2021 wildfire operational procedure.
EU research service that tracks the current wildfire situation in Europe.
Sources & evidence
- View sourceVRT NWS — Zwartberg becomes a base for firefighting aircraftPrimarybackground· vrt.be· 12 February 2025Retrieved 24 August 2026· 597 days ago· Background / context
- View sourceHet Nieuwsblad — Owner ends Zwartberg contractprimary· nieuwsblad.be· 18 August 2026Retrieved 24 August 2026· 45 days ago· Dated
- View sourceHet Nieuwsblad — Aquarius explains move to Viennacorroborating· nieuwsblad.be· 19 August 2026Retrieved 24 August 2026· 44 days ago· Dated
- View sourceEuropean Commission Representation in Belgium — European assistance for the High Fensofficial· belgium.representation.ec.europa.eu· 17 August 2026Retrieved 24 August 2026· 46 days ago· Dated
Related topics
Related to this story
Pulse Insight — This topic connects to 10 associations and 2 funding programmes through the Flanders ecosystem.
Live connections from the Belgium Impulse ecosystem — not recommendations.
This briefing was prepared with AI assistance and reviewed by a Belgium Impulse editor before publication. methodology.