Brussels airport to reopen fully in June … and it will be safe, insists boss

Brussels airport will fully re-open in June, three months after being targeted by suicide bombers, its chief executive has said. The announcement was made by Brussels airport chief executive Arnaud Feist in a Belgian newspaper interview on Saturday. “But it will be a basic service,” he added. “The facilities will not be fully renovated. We will… reflect on the terminal’s future and therefore probably won’t restore it identically.” Mr Feist also insisted the airport would be safe for passengers. “If we were not safe, we would not have received all permits required to carry out our business,“ he added.

Starting in May we are going to open 100 check-in counters in the part of the departures hall that was least damaged, which will permit us to increase our capacity to 70 percent and give us more flexibility.

Airport chief Arnaud Feist

The damage from the double blasts on March 22 was severe, with pictures from the scene showing the building’s shattered glass-fronted facade, collapsed ceilings and destroyed check-in desks. The airport was completely closed to passengers for 12 days following the attack. It reopened partially thanks to two large white tents that served as temporary check-in facilities, initially allowing 20% of flights to operate as normal. On Friday, the country’s transport minister, Jacqueline Galant, resigned over a leaked report showing officials were warned about lax security at the airport.

We have nearly 20,000 passengers departing each day, instead of the normal 40,000

Mr Feist

brussels airport