An Airbus A330 due to be leased by the defence ministry for the transport of officers, politicians and members of the royal family is too big to be housed in any of the existing hangars at Melsbroek air base, the ministry said. Critics have attacked the leasing of the second-hand A330 from Portuguese company HiFly, claiming the decision was taken against the rules on public contracts.

Fare dodgers on public transport will only be prosecuted after they have been caught three times travelling without a ticket, the country’s prosecutors-general have ruled. The decision is a surprise given that all transport authorities, including De Lijn and the NMBS, have made tackling fare-dodgers a priority. However the prosecutors also pointed out that previous offences can be taken into account when action is finally taken.

Organisations to help people with a gambling addiction have criticised the latest product of the National Lottery. Poker, a new scratch card, could make it more likely for people to move on to the card game itself, they said. The €2.50 card has a top prize of €100,000, which only appears twice in every 1.2 million cards.

Brussels’ local Flemish station TVBrussel this week started a new series of programmes aimed at older viewers. Called Linking generations presenteert, the series will cover matters of interest to the over-50s, thanks to a subsidy of €165,000.

The musical Daens! by Studio 100, starring Lucas van den Eynde, Free Soffriau and Jelle Cleymans, swept the board at the Flemish Musical Awards last week. The show won best musical, best direction, best cast, best book and best presentation of content, as well as acting awards for van den Eynde (leading man) and Jo De Meyere (supporting actor). Other winners included Simone Kleinsma, best actress for Sunset Boulevard, and Anne Mie Gils, best supporting actress for Elisabeth.

The Flemish have never been so sporty, with the number of people taking an active part in sport three times higher now than it was in 1969, according to research from the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL). The rise is biggest among women and older people. The reasons given include more media interest and a wider variety of sports on offer. Favourite sports: football, cycling and swimming, followed by dance, tennis and running.