NO FLIGHTS IN AND OUT OF BRUSSELS TILL AT LEAST TUESDAY SAYS BRUSSELS AIRPORT MEDIA CENTRE
(Posted 27th March 2016)
Brussels Airport did according to reliable information received take control of their terminal building again yesterday evening after forensic teams completed their work following the Tuesday morning terrorist bomb attack at the check in area.
It is understood that structural engineers confirmed that the building itself is safe and that the main damage sustained was concentrated on internal additions like shops, check in counters and the suspended ceilings.
Work has started in earnest to clear the debris and then begin immediate repairs, or where this may take longer board off the affected areas.
Due to the scale of the damages will flight operations, according to the Brussels Airport media centre, now only partially start on Tuesday but should be back at full scale later in the week.
Meanwhile have Brussels Airport staff relocated also to Liege to support their colleagues at that airport to cope with the sharp rise in traffic and mitigate waits for passengers who now use Liege for the Brussels Airlines flights across Europe. Bus services have been made available for passengers from Brussels to Liege and also the other alternate airport Antwerp.
Long haul flights for Brussels Airlines destinations in East and West Africa and the airline’s flights to New York continue to operate into and out of both Zurich and Frankfurt.
Information could also be obtained as of this morning about the return of Brussels Airlines to Washington DC which took place place last week. Passengers for New York and Washington will fly out of Antwerp to Zurich and join their long haul flight from there and the same applies for the return flights where the transatlantic legs will terminate in Zurich and passengers destined for Belgium will then fly onward to Antwerp.
The inaugural flight from Brussels to Toronto which was due for later today has been postponed until 02nd of April and passengers booked and ticketed until then have been rebooked with both Lufthansa and Swiss via Frankfurt and Zurich. Passengers are urged to consult their travel agents and / or Brussels Airlines by phone, email or through the website to receive updated information from where their flight will originate and through which connecting airport they will be flying.
All passengers booked on Brussels Airlines flights are also encouraged to regularly check the carrier’s Twitter feed via @FlyingBrussels to find out any imminent changes in their travel itinerary or else click on the following link to the Brussels Airlines website where regular updates are also posted: https://www.brusselsairlines.com/en-be/misc/AlertMessageDetail.aspx
When flight operations resume will passengers flying out of Brussels’ Zaventem airport find a series of additional security measures implemented which will include strengthened perimeter controls, surveillance and patrols and entry into the terminal too will be subject to baggage and personal security screening. For those reasons is it advisable, and airlines will issue their own guidelines, to add at least an extra hour to the previously recommended time passengers should be at the airport for check in, to be sure not to miss their flight due to delays at security check points.
Brussels Airlines, Brussels Airport and service providers at Zaventem are working around the clock to prepare for the resumption of flights, albeit on a sliding scale, as of Tuesday.
For breaking and regular aviation news concerning airlines flying to Eastern Africa, in this case to Entebbe and Kigali, look no further than this space.
