At the end of September 2025, the beginning of the first phase of redevelopment of the public space at the Pilotage Site or Loodswezen site, started. Yes, that sounds very tentative.
Tag: Politics
WINTER IN ANTWERP 2025-2026 | 1.5M visitors, 120K for New Year’s fireworks
The City of Antwerp has brought a highly successful edition of Winter in Antwerp (Winter in Antwerpen) to a close with its traditional New Year’s treat, capping four weeks of winter festivities across the historic city centre. This year’s edition attracted a total of 1.5 million visitors, confirming its status as one of the strongest…
Antwerp International Airport still has large public support and political advocates, but must have healthier finances
A clear majority of residents in the arrondissement of Antwerp support the continued existence of Antwerp International Airport in Deurne. An exclusive survey conducted by Gazet van Antwerpen, published in December 2025, shows that 61% of respondents believe Antwerp should have its own airport, while only 14% are completely opposed.
Antwerp hotels and entrepreneurs want Winter in Antwerp to start two weeks earlier: winter wonderland or urban pressure cooker?
Few urban phenomena capture the contradictions of contemporary city life as clearly as the modern Christmas market. Branded as cosy, convivial and tradition-laden, winter events such as Winter in Antwerp (Winter in Antwerpen) attract hundreds of thousands of visitors, fill hotel rooms and dominate city-centre calendars for weeks on end. Yet behind the fairy lights…
FLIXTRAIN | New Talgo high-speed fleet confined to Germany, European ambitions dropped
Seven months after heralding “a new era of train travel in Germany and Europe“, FlixTrain has reversed course. The company has confirmed that its €2.4 billion order of 65 new high-speed trains will now be deployed exclusively within Germany, abandoning earlier plans to use the fleet for international services. The German privateer announced its plans…
FLANDERS | Ban on live animals at weekly markets impacts Vogelenmarkt in Antwerp
Since 1 January 2026, the sale of live animals at weekly markets is banned across Flanders, bringing an end to a long-standing practice that has been part of street life in several towns and cities for generations. The measure is part of the new Flemish Animal Welfare Code introduced by Flemish minister for Animal Welfare…
Antwerp hoteliers see strong year-end but brace for difficult 2026 as average room rates come under pressure
Hotels in the city of Antwerp in Belgium are looking back on a successful year-end. December 2025 proved to be an excellent month, with occupancy 8% higher than in the same period last year. Overall, however, 2025 was only an average year, and 2026 is expected to be challenging.
Tourism Flanders tightens Airbnb rules to protect housing for singles
Flemish Deputy Minister-President of the Flemish Government and Flemish Minister of Housing, Energy and Climate, Tourism and Youth Melissa Depraetere (Vooruit) is tightening the rules for Airbnb accommodations, stating that homes intended for single occupants are increasingly being used as tourist accommodation.
Nox night trains: a smart new cabin concept or just an unachievable dream?
Announced in June 2025, the Franco-German night train initiative Nox (Latin for ‘night‘) has drawn immediate comparisons with the defunct start-up Midnight Trains, which folded in 2024. Back-on-Track.eu’s Juri Maier weighs up the viability of Europe‘s latest night train start-up.
Eurotunnel freezes UK rail investments over “unsustainable” tax hike
Eurotunnel, the operator of the Channel Tunnel, has halted its future investments in the United Kingdom, warning that what it calls unsustainable taxation levels have made any new projects non-viable.
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