Brussels Airport

Brussels Airport Luchthaven Brussel-Nationaal (Dutch) Aéroport de Bruxelles-National (French)
IATA: BRU – ICAO: EBBR
Summary
Airport type	Public & Military
Operator	Brussels Airport Company
Serves	Brussels, Belgium
Location	Zaventem, Machelen and Steenokkerzeel
Hub for	Abelag Aviation Brussels Airlines Jet Airways Jetairfly Saudia Cargo Singapore Airlines Cargo Thomas Cook Airlines Vueling
Elevation AMSL	184 ft / 56 m
Coordinates	50°54′05″N 004°29′04″E / 50.90139°N 4.48444°E / 50.90139; 4.48444Coordinates: 50°54′05″N 004°29′04″E / 50.90139°N 4.48444°E / 50.90139; 4.48444
Website	www.brusselsairport.be
Maps
Airport diagram
BRU Location in Belgium
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 01/19[1] 2,987 9,800 Asphalt 07R/25L 3,211 10,535 Asphalt 07L/25R 3,638 11,936 Asphalt
Statistics (2014)
Passengers 21,933,190 Freight (tonnes) 453,954 Aircraft movements 231,528
Sources: Brussels Airport,[2] AIP[3]

Brussels Airport (IATA: BRU, ICAO: EBBR) (also called Brussel Nationaal/Bruxelles-National/Brussel-Zaventem (Brussels National)) is an international airport 6 NM (11 km; 6.9 mi) northeast^[3] of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. In 2014, almost 22 million passengers arrived or departed at Brussels Airport, making it the 23rd busiest airport in Europe. It is located partially in Zaventem, partially in the Diegem area of Machelen,^[4] and partially in Steenokkerzeel, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is home to around 260 companies, together directly employing 20,000 people and serves as the home base for Brussels Airlines, Jetairfly and Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium.

The company operating the airport is known as "The Brussels Airport Company N.V./S.A."; before 19 October 2006, the name was BIAC (Brussels International Airport Company), which was created by Belgian law through a merger of BATC with the ground operations departments of the RLW/RVA. Since 2011, the airport is owned by the Toronto-based Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (39%), Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund I and Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund III (36%) and the Belgian State (25%).^[5]

History

Early years

The origins of Brussels Airport at Zaventem date back to 1940, when the German occupying force claimed 600 ha (1,500 acres) of agricultural fields reserved as a back-up airfield ("Steenokkerzeel"). There the Luftwaffe established Fliegerhorst Melsbroek and constructed 3 runways in the shape of a triangle: runway 02/20, runway 07L/25R (both of which are still in use today) and runway 12/30. The airport buildings were constructed in the nearby municipality of Melsbroek and not of Zaventem, which is why the airfield was known to the locals as Melsbroek( in Dutch) (or "Fliegerhorst Melsbroek" in German). There is an urban legend that the site of the airport was chosen by the Germans after asking locals where to build it – the Belgians then pointed to this location as it was often foggy.

After the liberation on 3 September 1944, the German infrastructure at Melsbroek fell into the hands of the British. When the old civilian airport in Haren became too small, the Belgian authorities decided to use the aerodrome at Melsbroek for the new national airport. By 1948, a new terminal building was constructed to replace the old wooden building. In the same year, the lengths of both runways 02/20 and 07L/25R were increased, to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) and 2,450 m (8,040 ft) respectively, whereas 12/30 remained at 1,300 m (4,300 ft). The civil aerodrome of Melsbroek was officially opened by Prince Charles, Count of Flanders, the Prince Regent, on 20 July 1948. From 1948 to 1956 many more buildings and facilities were erected, mostly on the Melsbroek side of the site.

In 1955, a railway line from Brussels city centre to the airport was constructed. The line was officially opened by King Baudouin on 15 May 1955.

In 1956 a new 2,300 m (7,500 ft) runway was constructed, 07R/25L, which runs parallel with 07L/25R. The runway is still in use today and saw its length later increased to 3,200 m (10,500 ft). In April 1956 the Belgian government decided to build a new airport, using the same runways, but with the buildings located within the municipality of Zaventem. In April 1957, construction started of the new terminal, preparing the airport for the 1958 World Fair. The grass runway 12/30 had to make way to allow for the new passenger terminal. This new airport was inaugurated 5 July 1958, almost just in time for the 1958 World Fair. The buildings on the Melsbroek side are still in use by the Belgian Air Force (15th Air Transport Wing), and this is still known as Melsbroek airfield. Both Zaventem Airport and Melsbroek Air Base, the military airfield, share the same runways.

Development since the 1960s

During the boom of commercial aviation in the 1960s and 1970s, several hangars were constructed. A new cargo terminal was constructed in 1976. In 1994, a brand new terminal was constructed adjacent to the old 1958 building. Two old piers were torn down and replaced by modern ones. In 2002, amidst the turmoil surrounding the demise of the national airline Sabena, a new pier was opened.

In 2005, the airport was awarded Best Airport in Europe by Airports Council International/International Air Transport Association (ACI/IATA), based on a survey of over 100,000 passengers worldwide. Brussels Airport continued to appear in top airports lists as of 2012. A direct train link with Leuven and Liège was opened on 12 December 2005.

In 2007, the airport served 17.8 million passengers, an increase of 7% over 2006. The cargo volume in the same year amounted to 780,000 tonnes, an increase of 8.9% over 2006. In 2008, the airport served 18.5 million passengers, which was an increase of 3.7% over the previous year.^[6]

Sabena's demise meant a sharp fall in passenger traffic, a blow from which the airport only slowly recovered. The airport's future is threatened by disagreement between the governments of Flanders and the Brussels Capital Region concerning night-time air traffic routes.

In March 2009, the old mechanical Flight information display systems were replaced by electronic ones.^[7] In September 2009, CEO Wilfried Van Assche resigned. One of the (unofficial) reasons was the delay in the construction of the low-cost terminal and the possible lawsuit by 52 airlines active at Brussels Airport, on the grounds of tax discrimination. It was Van Assche who started expanding the Long-Haul network (Jet Airways, Hainan Airlines, Etihad Airways, US Airways) at Brussels Airport. In February 2010 Arnaud Feist was appointed CEO. The company president is Luc Van den Bossche (former Belgian government minister).

On 18 February 2013, in the 2013 Belgium diamond heist, eight men armed with automatic weapons and dressed in police uniforms seized 120 small parcels containing an estimated US$50 million worth of diamonds from a Helvetic Airways Fokker 100 passenger plane loaded with passengers preparing for departure to Zürich. The men drove two vehicles through a hole they had cut in the airport perimeter fence to Flight LX789, which had just been loaded with diamonds from a Brink's armored van from Antwerp. They carried out the operation within five minutes with no injuries and without firing a shot.^[8][9][10]

According to this non-official study, Brussels Airport is the most noise-polluting airport of 30 European airports in terms of the noise levels created and the number of people affected by take-off and landing operations.^[11]

Facilities

Brussels Airport uses a one terminal concept, meaning that all the facilities are located under a single roof. The terminal building consists of several levels. The railway station is located on −1, busses and taxis arrive at 0, arrivals are located on level 2 and departures on level 3. Levels 2 and 3 are connected to the airport's two piers (A and B).^[12]

Departure Halls

Brussels Airport has two departure halls. The main hall is used by all airlines, with the exception of Jetairfly and Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium. Those two airlines operate from a smaller departure hall next to departure hall 1 as of 30 March 2010. From both the departure halls, both piers can be reached. Brussels Airport currently consists of 54 contact gates, and a total of 109 gates.

Pier A

Pier A is the newest pier on Brussels Airport and was opened on 15 May 2002. This pier was destined to support flights from and to the Schengen countries (A-gates). However, since 15 October 2008 all Brussels Airlines flights to African destinations are also handled at this pier. Therefore, border control was installed towards the end of the pier in order to create a new pier. As a result, gates A61-72 were renamed T61-72.

Until March 26, 2015,^[13] Pier A was connected to the main building via a 400 metres (1,300 ft) long tunnel under the tarmac. Each pier used to have its own security zone, so transfer between the piers involved a security check. This tunnel was replaced by the "Connector", a new building that links both piers above ground and allows passengers to walk straight from the check-in desk to their gate in pier A or B, without changing floors. In the opposite direction, the building provides arriving passengers with a smooth and convenient passage to the baggage reclaim hall and the exit. Furthermore, border control has been relocated to a 25-lane screening platform (Europe's largest) inside the Connector which means that changing planes no longer requires a security check.

Pier B

Pier B is the oldest pier that is still in use at Brussels Airport and is only used for flights outside the Schengen Area. Pier B is connected immediately to the main departure hall and consists of two decks. The upper deck (level 3) is at the same level as the departure halls and is used for the departing passengers, whereas the lower deck (level 2) is used for arriving passengers and connects immediately to border control and the baggage claim area.

Planned

Pier A West

Pier A West is a planned expansion of Pier A, and is meant to relieve Pier B by also handling flights from non-Schengen countries. Pier A West was due to open in 2016, but because of the slow passenger growth, Brussels Airport announced in July 2013 that the works will be delayed until further notice.

Low-cost pier

Just as is the case for Pier A West, the construction of a new low-cost pier is currently on hold. It will be built roughly where the old south pier used to be. At present, several low-cost airlines including Ryanair and Wizz Air fly to Brussels-South Charleroi Airport, 40 km (25 mi) away from Brussels.^[14] In autumn 2013, low-cost carrier Pegasus Airlines has announced it will end its flights between Brussels Airport and Turkey. The service between Brussels and Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen will relocate to Brussels-South Charleroi Airport. However, Turkish Airlines announced on 26 November 2013 it will offer one daily flight on the same route, starting one month after Pegasus terminates its operations at the airport.^[15] One day later, Ryanair announced the opening of a second Belgian base at Brussels Airport, giving a boost to low-cost traffic at Brussels Airport. Ryanair announced on 27 November 10 new routes from Brussels Airport,^[16] although Brussels-South Charleroi Airport will remain the low-cost carrier's primary Belgian base.

Services

Shops, bars and restaurants are scattered throughout the building. A few facilities are located in the departure area. These are mostly convenience stores and small shops such as the airport shop, a pharmacy, Relay stores, and a coffee shop. But most of the facilities can only be accessed after Security control – and are tax free. Several brands and chains have a branch in both piers, however several only operate in pier A.

The airport also features places of worship (for Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Orthodox Christians and Protestants), as well as a place for meditation for humanists.

From 6 December 2013, all passengers have 30 minutes free Wi-Fi access. After this period, passengers can buy additional Wi-Fi access using their credit card. Telenet, Boingo and iPass customers have unlimited free Wi-Fi access at Brussels Airport.

The airport provides meeting facilities and can host congresses up to 600 participants, either in the Regus Skyport Meeting Center or in the Sheraton Brussels Airport Hotel. The latter is the only hotel located on the airport grounds, opposite the terminal. Shuttle services are provided to 14 nearby hotels.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Airlines	Destinations	Pier(s)
Adria Airways	Ljubljana	A
Adria Airways	Tirana	B
Aegean Airlines	Athens Seasonal: Corfu, Heraklion, Rhodes,[17] Thessaloniki	A
Aer Lingus	Dublin Seasonal: Cork	B
Aeroflot	Moscow-Sheremetyevo	B
Air Algérie	Algiers Seasonal: Oran	B
Air Arabia Maroc	Casablanca, Nador, Tangier	B
airBaltic	Riga	A
Air Canada	Montreal-Trudeau	B
Air Europa	Madrid	A
Air France operated by HOP!	Lyon, Bordeaux, Nantes	A
Air Lituanica	Vilnius[18]	A
Air Lituanica operated by BMI Regional	Vilnius[19]	A
Air Malta	Malta	A
Air Serbia	Belgrade	B
Air Transat	Seasonal: Montreal-Trudeau	B
Alitalia	Milan-Linate, Rome-Fiumicino	A
Alitalia operated by Alitalia CityLiner	Milan-Linate	A
Austrian Airlines	Vienna	A
Blue Air	Bacău, Bucharest	B
BMI Regional	East Midlands, Newcastle upon Tyne	B
British Airways	London-Heathrow	B
British Airways operated by Sun Air of Scandinavia	Billund	A
Brussels Airlines	Alicante, Athens, Barcelona, Basel/Mulhouse, Berlin-Tegel, Bilbao, Bologna, Budapest, Copenhagen, Geneva, Gothenburg-Landvetter, Hamburg, Kraków, Lisbon, Lyon, Madrid, Málaga, Marseille, Milan-Linate, Milan-Malpensa, Nice, Oslo-Gardermoen, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Prague, Riga, Rome-Fiumicino, Stockholm-Bromma, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Turin, Venice-Marco Polo, Vienna, Vilnius, Warsaw-Chopin[20] Seasonal: Ajaccio, Bastia, Bordeaux,[21] Calvi (begins 30 May 2015), Catania, Faro, Figari, Gran Canaria (begins 25 October 2015),[22] Florence, Ibiza (begins 27 June 2015), Lourdes (begins 11 May 2015), Malta, Naples, Olbia, Palermo, Porto, Seville, Tenerife-South (begins 25 October 2015)[22]	A
Brussels Airlines	Birmingham, Edinburgh, London-Heathrow, Manchester, Moscow-Domodedovo, New York-JFK, Saint Petersburg, Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion, Zagreb (begins 20 September 2015) Seasonal: Agadir, Dubrovnik, Marrakech, Washington-Dulles	B
Brussels Airlines	Abidjan, Banjul, Bujumbura, Conakry, Cotonou, Dakar, Douala, Entebbe, Freetown, Kigali, Kinshasa-N'djili, Lomé, Luanda, Monrovia, Nairobi-Jomo Kenyatta, Ouagadougou, Yaoundé	T
Brussels Airlines operated by BMI Regional	Bristol	B
Brussels Airlines operated by Flybe/Tyrolean Airways[23]	Basel/Mulhouse,[24] Billund, Hamburg, Hannover, Turin	A
Brussels Airlines operated by Flybe[23]	Birmingham	B
Bulgaria Air	Sofia	B
Corendon Airlines	Antalya, Bodrum, Dalaman	B
Croatia Airlines	Zagreb	B
Czech Airlines	Prague	A
Delta Air Lines	Atlanta, New York-JFK	B
easyJet	Berlin-Schönefeld, Bordeaux, Milan-Malpensa, Naples, Nice, Toulouse	A
easyJet	London-Gatwick	B
easyJet Switzerland	Basel/Mulhouse, Geneva	A
EgyptAir	Cairo	B
El Al	Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion	B
Emirates	Dubai-International	B
Estonian Air	Tallinn	A
Ethiopian Airlines	Addis Ababa1	B
Etihad Airways	Abu Dhabi	B
Finnair	Helsinki	A
Freebird Airlines	Seasonal charter: Antalya, Bodrum	B
Germanwings	Stuttgart	A
Germanwings operated by Eurowings	Stuttgart	A
Hainan Airlines	Beijing-Capital	B
Iberia	Madrid	A
Icelandair	Seasonal: Reykjavík-Keflavík	A
Jet Airways	Delhi, Mumbai, Newark, Toronto-Pearson	B
Jetairfly[25]	Alicante, Almería, Fuerteventura, Funchal, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Málaga, La Palma, Tenerife-South Seasonal: Ajaccio, Athens, Bastia, Brindisi, Burgas, Catania, Chania, Corfu, Faro, Girona, Heraklion, Ibiza, Jerez de la Frontera, Kos, Lamezia Terme, Lourdes, Menorca, Mykonos, Naples, Olbia, Palermo, Palma de Mallorca, Ponta Delgada, Reus, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini, Thessaloniki Varna, Zakynthos	A
Jetairfly[25]	Agadir, Antalya, Aqaba, Boa Vista, Cancún, Djerba, Enfidha, Hurghada, Marrakech, Marsa Alam, Miami, Montego Bay, Pristina, Punta Cana, Rabat, Sal, Santo Domingo, Sharm el-Sheikh, Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion, Tirana, Varadero Seasonal: Bodrum, Dalaman, Dubrovnik, Izmir, Ohrid, Orlando-Sanford, Paphos, Skopje, Zanzibar	B
KLM operated by KLM Cityhopper	Amsterdam	A
LOT Polish Airlines	Warsaw-Chopin	A
Lufthansa	Frankfurt, Munich	A
Lufthansa Regional operated by Lufthansa CityLine	Frankfurt, Munich	A
Meridiana	Seasonal: Olbia[26]	A
Middle East Airlines	Beirut	B
Nouvelair	Seasonal charter: Djerba, Monastir	B
Onur Air	Antalya	B
Pegasus Airlines	Seasonal: Antalya	B
Qatar Airways	Doha	B
Royal Air Maroc	Casablanca, Nador, Tangier Seasonal: Al Hoceima, Oujda	B
Ryanair	Alicante, Barcelona, Berlin-Schönefeld (begins 27 October 2015), Lisbon, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Porto, Rome-Fiumicino, Treviso, Valencia, Verona[27] Seasonal: Ibiza	A
Ryanair	Dublin	B
Scandinavian Airlines	Copenhagen, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stockholm-Arlanda	A
SunExpress	Seasonal: Izmir (begins 30 June 2015)	B
Swiss International Air Lines	Zürich	A
Swiss International Air Lines operated by Swiss Global Air Lines	Zürich	A
Tailwind Airlines	Charter: Antalya	B
TAP Portugal	Lisbon	A
TAP Portugal operated by Portugália	Porto	A
TAROM	Bucharest	B
Thai Airways	Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi	B
Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium	Charter: Alicante, Almería, Athens, Barcelona, Bastia, Biarritz, Burgas, Cagliari, Catania, Chania, Chios, Corfu, Faro, Fuerteventura, Funchal, Girona, Heraklion, Ibiza, Jerez de la Frontera, Kos, Santa Cruz de la Palma, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Lesbos, Lisbon, Málaga, Malta, Menorca, Mykonos, Naples, Nice, Olbia, Palma de Mallorca, Palermo, Rhodes, Rimini, Reus, Santorini, Tenerife-South, Varna, Venice-Marco Polo, Zakynthos Seasonal charter: Ajaccio, Reykjavík-Keflavík, Tivat	A
Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium	Charter: Agadir, Alanya, Antalya, Boa Vista, Bodrum, Cairo, Dalaman, Dubrovnik, Enfidha, Hurghada, Larnaca, Luxor, Marrakech, Marsa Alam, Monastir, Oujda, Paphos, Sal, Sharm el-Sheikh, Split, Taba, Tunis	B
Transavia.com	Seasonal charter: Heraklion, Tenerife-South	A
Tunisair	Djerba, Enfidha, Monastir, Tunis	B
Turkish Airlines	Ankara, Eskişehir, Istanbul-Atatürk, Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen	B
Ukraine International Airlines	Kiev-Boryspil	B
United Airlines	Chicago-O'Hare, Newark, Washington-Dulles	B
US Airways operated by American Airlines	Philadelphia	B
Vueling	Alicante, Barcelona, Bilbao, Florence, Lisbon, Málaga, Porto, Rome-Fiumicino, Valencia Seasonal: Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca, Santiago de Compostela	A

¹: Ethiopian's flight from Brussels to Addis Ababa makes a stop in Paris. However, the airline does not have traffic rights to transport passengers solely between Brussels and Paris.

Cargo

Airlines	Destinations
Air Algérie	Algiers, Casablanca
Asiana Cargo	Anchorage, Halifax, London-Stansted, New York-JFK, Seoul-Incheon
Demavia operated by ACT Airlines	Lagos, Lomé, Luanda, Nairobi
DHL Aviation operated by AeroLogic	Bahrain, Leipzig/Halle
DHL Aviation operated by DHL Air UK	Cincinnati, Lagos, Leipzig/Halle
DHL Aviation operated by EAT Leipzig	Bergamo, Budapest, Copenhagen, East Midlands, Leipzig/Halle, Lisbon, London-Heathrow, Vitoria
DHL Aviation operated by Kalitta Air	Bahrain, Cincinnati, Leipzig/Halle
DHL Aviation operated by Swiftair	Barcelona, Bratislava, Madrid
Ethiopian Airlines Cargo	Addis Ababa, Dubai-International, Hong Kong
Finnair Cargo operated by EAT Leipzig	Helsinki
Kelowna Flightcraft Air Charter	Toronto (begins 17 May 2015)
Korean Air Cargo	Seoul-Incheon
Qatar Airways Cargo	Doha, Entebbe, Nairobi, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stavanger
Royal Air Maroc	Casablanca
Saudia Cargo	Dammam, Jeddah, Milan-MXP, Riyadh, Vienna
Singapore Airlines Cargo	Chicago-O'Hare, Copenhagen, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Mumbai, Sharjah, Singapore
TNT Airways	Helsinki
Yangtze River Express	Chicago-O'Hare, Munich

Statistics

Routes

Busiest European routes from Brussels Airport^[28]

Rank	Destination	Airport(s)	Passengers 2011	Passengers 2012	Passengers 2013	Top carriers
1	Madrid, Spain	MAD	580,280	561,757	661,101	Air Europa, Brussels Airlines, Iberia
2	London, UK	LHR, LGW	517,519	548,544	569,541	British Airways, Brussels Airlines, easyJet
3	Geneva, Switzerland	GVA	514,158	514,159	536,833	Brussels Airlines, easyJet Switzerland
4	Istanbul, Turkey	IST, SAW	410,583	460,024	516,225	Jetairfly, Turkish Airlines
5	Barcelona, Spain	BCN	508,726	523,191	509,505	Brussels Airlines, Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium, Vueling
6	Antalya, Turkey	AYT	432,922	450,386	492,316	Corendon Airlines, Freebird Airlines, Jetairfly, Onur Air, Pegasus Airlines, Tailwind Airlines, Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium
7	Milan, Italy	MXP, LIN	469,198	459,383	491,385	Alitalia, Brussels Airlines, easyJet
8	Rome, Italy	FCO	514,507	486,410	466,692	Alitalia, Brussels Airlines
9	Frankfurt, Germany	FRA	462,180	450,607	459,555	Lufthansa
10	Copenhagen, Denmark	CPH	437,424	481,591	458,147	Brussels Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines

Busiest Intercontinental routes from Brussels Airport^[28]

Rank	Destination	Airport(s)	Passengers 2011	Passengers 2012	Passengers 2013	Top carriers
1	New York, NY, USA	JFK, EWR	581,658	664,152	574,106	Brussels Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Jet Airways, United Airlines
2	Washington, DC, USA	IAD	152,754	159,764	201,144	United Airlines, Brussels Airlines
3	Tel Aviv, Israel	TLV	169,098	187,786	187,433	Brussels Airlines, El Al, Jetairfly
4	Abu Dhabi, UAE	AUH	148,916	171,619	170,743	Etihad Airways
5	Casablanca, Morocco	CMN	192,835	194,262	170,076	Air Arabia Maroc, Jetairfly, Royal Air Maroc
6	Mumbai, India	BOM	130,071	151,670	157,029	Jet Airways
7	Montréal, Canada	YUL	149,420	150,033	145,729	Air Canada, Air Transat
8	Toronto, Canada	YYZ	136,630	145,089	144,394	Jet Airways
9	New Delhi, India	DEL	130,601	127,714	136,071	Jet Airways
10	Chicago, IL, USA	ORD	236,840	104,317	134,294	United Airlines

Traffic

Traffic by calendar year^[28][29]

Year	Passenger volume	Change over previous year	Aircraft operations	Change over previous year	Cargo (tonnes)	Change over previous year
2014	21,933,190	014.60%	231,528	06.90%	453,954	05.60%
2013	19,133,222	00.90%	216,678	03.00%	429,938	06.40%
2012	18,971,332	01.00%	223,431	04.40%	459,265	03.30%
2011	18,786,034	09.30%	233,758	03.60%	475,124	00.20%
2010	17,180,606	01.10%	225,682	02.60%	476,135	06.00%
2009	16,999,154	08.20%	231,668	010.5%	449,132	032.1%
2008	18,515,730	03.40%	258,795	02.10%	661,143	015.6%
2007	17,900,000	07.10%	264,366	03.80%	783,727	08.90%
2006	16,707,892	03.30%	254,772	00.60%	719,561	02.40%
2005	16,179,733	03.50%	253,255	00.30%	702,819	05.80%
2004	15,632,773	02.90%	254,070	00.70%	664,375	09.40%
2003	15,194,097	05.40%	252,249	01.80%	607,136	013.1%
2002	14,410,555	026.8%	256,889	015.9%	536,826	08.00%
2001	19,684,867	09.00%	305,532	06.30%	583,729	015.1%
2000	21,637,003	07.90%	352,972	04.20%	687,385	01.90%
1999	20,048,532	015.7%	312,892	04.30%	674,837	–
1998	18,400,000	015.7%	300,000	08.30%
1997	15,900,000	018.7%	277,000	04.90%
1996	13,400,000	07.20%	264,000	–
1995	12,500,000	011.6%
1994	11,200,000	–
1993	10,000,000+	–
1950	240,000+	–

Other facilities

Brussels Airlines has its corporate head office in the b.house, Airport Building 26, located in Diegem, Machelen.^[4][30] Brussels Airlines formed in 2006 as a result of a merger between SN Brussels and Virgin Express.^[31] European Air Transport had its head office in Building 4–5, in Zaventem.^[32]

Before Sabena went out of business, its head office was in the Sabena House on the grounds of Brussels Airport.^[33] When it existed, Virgin Express had its head office in Building 116 in Zaventem.^[34] SN Brussels, which formed in 2002, had its head office in Airport Building 117 in Zaventem when it existed.^[35] Prior to its disestablishment, Sobelair had its head office in Building 45 in Zaventem.^[36][37]

Ground transportation

Road

Brussels Airport can be reached by car via the A201, which is directly connected to the R0 highway. From there, the main highways of Belgium can directly be accessed. Private partners provide three car parks at the airport, offering in total 10,600 parking spaces. Shell operates a self-service gas station near the exit of the airport complex.

Several car rental services are located in the airport as well. Europcar, Hertz, Sixt and Thrifty all operate at Brussels Airport.

De Lijn provides bus transportation to and from various cities in Flanders from platforms A and B (via Brucargo). The MIVB/STIB provides transportation into Brussels city centre at Brussels Luxembourg Station via line 12 (weekdays before 8 pm) or line 21 (weekends and evenings after 8 pm) from platform C. Platform E is used by the Hotel Shuttles, offering shuttle services to several hotels near the area.

Taxis are permanently available in front of the arrivals hall. The fare from the airport to the city centre of Brussels is normally around €45. Licensed taxis can be recognized by the blue and yellow emblem.

Rail

The Airport Railway Station is located under the airport building at level −1. The train station has direct services to Antwerp, Brussels, De Panne, Ghent, Hasselt, Landen, Leuven, Mechelen, Nivelles and Quévy. At least four trains per hour serve the most used link to Brussels South Railway Station, where international connections are offered by Eurostar (to London), Thalys (to Amsterdam, Avignon, Cologne, Essen, Lille, Marseille, Paris, and Valence), ICE (to Cologne and Frankfurt) and Eurocity (to Basel, Bern, Chur, Luxembourg and Zürich). There is now also a direct train from the Airport to Paris once a day with Thalys. There is a special agreement with Brussels Airlines and Jet Airways for use of this service.

A direct train link with Leuven was opened on 12 December 2005. A direct link with Antwerp and Mechelen via the so-called Diabolo line was opened for public service on 10 June 2012. The Diabolo project is a public-private partnership. It has been decided that all rail passengers to the Brussels National Airport railway station station pay a "Diabolo supplement" to finance the ongoing and planned work.

As of December 2014, a direct train link between Bruges and the Airport will be offered,^[38] just as an Intercity service to Schiphol and Amsterdam.^[39]

Once the new Schuman-Josaphat tunnel^[40] is finished, a new connection will be established to connect Brussels Airport directly to the stations of the EU quarter, being Brussels-Schuman and Brussels-Luxembourg. This will bring the travel time between the Airport and the EU quarter to about 15 minutes. The Belgian Railways plan to open the new connection in 2015.^[41]

Tram

In an attempt to alleviate gridlock around Brussels, the regional transport company De Lijn started the Brabantnet project.^[42] Three new lightrail lines will be created, of which 2 will have a stop at Brussels Airport;

- The Airport Tram, connecting Brussels Airport to Brussels-North, but taking a different trajectory than the already existing railway line.

- The Ring Tram, roughly following the northern side of the Brussels Ring and connecting several Brussels suburbs to the Airport

The Brabantnet project is scheduled to be finished by 2020.

Bicycle

Brussels Airport has a special separated road that provides access to the airport for bikers and pedestrians. There is also a special place to park bikes.

Incidents and accidents

• A serious accident in the vicinity of the airport was the crash of Sabena Flight 548, a Boeing 707 on 15 February 1961. The plane crashed during approach on runway 20, killing all 72 people on board and one on the ground.^[43] This was the first fatal accident involving a Boeing 707 resulting in the death of the entire United States Figure Skating team on its way to the World Figure Skating Championship in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

• Four aircraft were destroyed on 5 May 2006 when Sabena Technics' hangar 40 burned down. The stricken aircraft were one Lockheed C-130 Hercules (Belgian Air Component) and three Airbus A320 (Armavia, Armenian International Airways and Hellas Jet).

• On 25 May 2008, a Boeing 747-200F operated by Kalitta Air, overran the shorter runway 20, crashed into a field and split in three. The five people on board were taken to hospital with four receiving minor injuries.^[44]

See also

• Transport in Belgium

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

External links

Media related to Brussels Airport at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Current weather for EBBR at NOAA/NWS
• Accident history for BRU at Aviation Safety Network

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