Charleroi Airport (CRL) latest news 2012

[Passenger]

No special delay, not a single cancellation..nada.A lot of buzz for nothing.

http://www.charleroi-airport.com/passag ... index.html

So VTM (Flemish commercial television) was lying, when they've interviewed passengers from an incoming flight from Dublin, all saying they had to wait very long before they've passed the passport control? One passenger told VTM: "why do they take us in hostage?"

http://nieuws.vtm.be/binnenland/2012071 ... -charleroi

[b-west]

The press has a tendency to sensationalise, What is very long? If you arrive in Brussels at 7am, you risk having to queue up for over an hour as a non eu passenger. And taken hostage? Nobody was refused entry, you just have to stand in line till it's your turn. Hardly a hostage situation I think...

[Passenger]

The press has a tendency to sensationalise, What is very long? If you arrive in Brussels at 7am, you risk having to queue up for over an hour as a non eu passenger. And taken hostage? Nobody was refused entry, you just have to stand in line till it's your turn. Hardly a hostage situation I think...

is that your vision about respect towards passengers / not involved citizens ?

[Charlie Roy]

Ryanair have applied for slots for 34 routes from Copenhagen, including Charleroi.
http://www.check-in.dk/newselement.cfm? ... leID=64859

[b-west]

In the end this concerns their safety as well... A lack of personnel at the border control leads to fewer effective controls, higher risk of illegal immigration or people with bad intentions crossing the border. Talks with the government thus far have been unsuccessful, so the unions are taking - very moderate - action. Thus far, nobody has missed their flight. People have just had to stand in line a bit longer, hardly a life shattering event. And if they're so upset about this, they can always complain to the responsable government. Maybe they'll be more successful than the unions

(edited for typo)

[airazurxtror]

Ryanair have applied for slots for 34 routes from Copenhagen, including Charleroi.

Thanks for the info - Copenhagen really is a most interesting destination.

[JAF737]

The press has a tendency to sensationalise, What is very long? If you arrive in Brussels at 7am, you risk having to queue up for over an hour as a non eu passenger. And taken hostage? Nobody was refused entry, you just have to stand in line till it's your turn. Hardly a hostage situation I think...

is that your vision about respect towards passengers / not involved citizens ?

Passenger... Your own vision, in your own ideal world, stuck in your own little bubble, is far from reality. Come back on earth. B-West is totally right in what he says (especially regarding the media, which is so basic that almost everybody can understand that). Strikes are also something made to take people in hostage. It was NOT the case in CRL this time, even if people had to wait a little longer to get into the boarding area. Punt aan de lijn. Perhaps you would like everybody to be treated as a VIP, but again, that's your own bubble idea.

[Acid-drop]

I tend to disagree ... there is no tendency of the media to be sensationalist. It's deeply worse than that : they seems to do 99% of sensationalism. Some people call that "choosing carefully people" for an interview. I doubt they waited "very long". Go to heathrow or CDG, you'll have more fun.

[crlhub]

CPH very nice destination added(mix business,vfr and leisure).Still waiting for LIS, it seems to be in the pipeline for quiet some time.

[crlhub]

I tend to disagree ... there is no tendency of the media to be sensationalist. It's deeply worse than that : they seems to do 99% of sensationalism. Some people call that "choosing carefully people" for an interview. I doubt they waited "very long". Go to heathrow or CDG, you'll have more fun.

http://www.lapresse.ca/international/eu ... des-jo.php

[Passenger]

"There are no American tanks in Bagdad" - comical Ali, during the Kuwait/Iraq war. It's quite funny to see how some deny the facts or minimalize what happened. That some say that the passengers who have been interviewed have exaggerated or lied is extreme union nonsense.

Public servants have misused their duty for syndical purpose. And yet, some even whitewash this bullying action. Imagine you go to a car wash. When you want to leave, the guy lockes the door and says: "my boss hasn't paid me since last month. The door will now be closed for one hour". This is what happened: a flight from Dublin, which could be handled off in a normal and safe matter in 15 minutes, was done in 2 hours.

Passengers don't mind they have to wait. We're used to it. And we don't care, as long as there is a good reason for it. But this time, even the police union said that there would be a deliberate, long waiting time because this suits them in their social conflict. So don't use "safety" as argument: it wasn't.

Comparing this bullying action to the queues at Heathrow is also not correct. I know Heathrow quite well. Actually, for a previous job, I had to go there two times a week. During about tho years. The queue at the passport control was shorter and faster then in BRU. The queue at the hand luggage control was indeed always longer then in BRU, but the waiting time was shorter. But that is not relevant here. Public servants have used innocent passengers for a social conflict. Shame on them.

And finally: shame on those who support this action, only because they dislike bad news about their favorite airport Charleroi, or because they, as eagerly union members, sympathise with every syndical action.

[crlhub]

@passenger:you really have time to loose..

What do you think about this one??

Border force staff to walk out ahead of Olympics
Border guards are to strike on the eve of the Olympics, the busiest day in the history of Heathrow, despite their union securing the support of just one in 10 staff.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympi ... mpics.html

[b-west]

Oh passenger please. Those who know me know I'm at best a lukewarm supporter of the unions. Strike action is something I am very weary of. And the last time I used CRL is now almost 10 yrs ago, it's hardly my favorite airport.

But this action, you can't even call it a strike,came after months of negotiations, in which it became clear that the government had no intention to listen to the unions. So the last ones decided to "flex their muscles". It's unfortunate that passengers had to suffer an inconvenience of this, but if you know a better way, I'm sure the unions will be more than willing to listen to you.

And again, just like the press, you like to sensationalise things. Using inflated terms as "taken hostage" are a bit out of place.

And you clearly don't get what I mean with the safety argument. Insufficient staff and pressure to keep waiting times as short as possible will have an influence on the quality of the border control.

[airazurxtror]

This is what happened: a flight from Dublin, which could be handled off in a normal and safe matter in 15 minutes, was done in 2 hours.
Passengers don't mind they have to wait. We're used to it. And we don't care, as long as there is a good reason for it. But this time, even the police union said that there would be a deliberate, long waiting time because this suits them in their social conflict.
Public servants have used innocent passengers for a social conflict. Shame on them.

I fully agree.

[Charlie Roy]

December 23rd 2010. Heavy snow storm at Charleroi airport started when I was airside. I then saw on a news website that my flight and all others were cancelled and on plane finder that my inbound aircraft had diverted to Ostend. Security wouldn't allow me leave airside. Hostage situation. I needed to call the police to instruct them to let me leave. Everyone else found out only 20 minutes later that their flights were cancelled.

I'm just saying the security staff need to be very careful not to allow their industrial action to escalate to taking people hostage.

[crlhub]

http://www.pagtour.net/index.php?tx_pag_pi6[uid]=6576

Do you know what a 'hostage' really is?Then maybe take a trip to places like Damas or THR?

[regi]

http://www.pagtour.net/index.php?tx_pag_pi6[uid]=6576

Do you know what a 'hostage' really is?Then maybe take a trip to places like Damas or THR?

I don't understand your link. Maybe other news now.
I do understand the word hostage and we went about that subject before.
Police is very careful in cases of industrial action. In Belgium there have been several cases of people who lost cases against union members when they drove through union pickets. Attempted murder!
But in this very particular case , it seems that you have not understood the concept of hostage.
If the story of Charlie Roy is correct ( I suppose so ) , please read again:
Security wouldn't allow me leave airside.
And he acted very correctly: just phone the police and say that "some people" keep you in a place and don't allow you to leave. That is hostage taking.
The opposite with industrial estate blockades isn't hostage taking. It is simply blocking entrance of goods or people. They can go where ever they want, their freedom is not obstructed.
There is a grey zone with security personnel. If by an industrial action, the security personnel acts very slowly and create by this a very long cue, hm, quite difficult to call it hostage taking. And if you skip the line and forcefully would try to get out, you break security rules. But again: grey zone. It is also a legally interesting subject in case security is subcontracted to a private company. They do not have the same status of state officials ( real police). Simply said: if a policeman instructs you to lay down on a wet floor to be padded, and you disobey and start to wrestle a bit, you get arrested on grounds of disobediance of uniformed policemen. If you refuse to be padded at an airport by security staff, and you are taken aside, they are already wrong: they are not allowed to take you, they can ask you. The only ones who are allowed to act "by force" are the real police.
But I would disadvice to try it out at the start of your holiday. You don't want to miss your flight ( not refunded!) , undergo a "deep cavity" search by uniformed police and be placed on a non fly black list.

By the way: in case of hostage taking, a citizen in Belgium is allowed to use any mean to regain his OWN freedom, including using lethal violence. But this doesn't mean you can try out martial combat arts on a union member who blocks the exit door. It is way simplier to form a group of collaborators and smash the windows by seats, tabels and chairs - as I have done in the past in non airline circumstances. Positive was that nobody got hurt ( union members always run away from scattering glass ), police didn't intervene because they thought it were the union mobsters who were smashing things up and it was in the days before small mobile phone camera's and other nasty security stuff that could give you a hard time in a court case.
Back on track: if Charlie Roy had no means to get his freedom because he was obstructed by security personnel, he was taken hostage. I do wonder if he filed an official complaint.

[crlhub]

Link updated: http://www.pagtour.net/actualite/charle ... index.html

Security subcontracting(anywhere in the world)is never perfect.Check what just happened in LHR with G4S unable to deliver the promied staff for the Olympics.Now it seems that they called military personnel to take care of G4S job.This on very short notice.

[regi]

Link updated: http://www.pagtour.net/actualite/charle ... index.html

Security subcontracting(anywhere in the world)is never perfect.Check what just happened in LHR with G4S unable to deliver the promied staff for the Olympics.Now it seems that they called military personnel to take care of G4S job.This on very short notice.

OK, link works fine now.
The big problem with this action is that it is performed by the police itself. I wouldn't smash terminal windows in front of a picket line of uniformed police men
But we cannot disregard that Charleroi, and on a larger scale the Walloon government, has created a problem by helping ( I don't use the word subsidy) to expand the airport massively.
So if the regionnal government creates problems that are federal matter ( border control by federal police, road and train connections) , they shouldn't complain.
The article gives the facts a strange twist by pointing to the great work of federal police catching illegal drugs. If I put this in a larger perspective: do I as a Belgian taxpayer have to pay extra money for more federal police because there are so many more drug runners to be controlled , flying on LCC's?
Do I have to pay for train connections to the capital of Europe - despite Charleroi is called Brussels South?

Is this the job creation where LCC airline managers always wave with when they insist to get everything on their conditions? Well, than it is time to regard this activity in the same way as major events where the organisors have to pay for the extra police cost.

Sad that the innoscent passenger is again the victim.

[regi]

Security subcontracting(anywhere in the world)is never perfect.Check what just happened in LHR with G4S unable to deliver the promied staff for the Olympics.Now it seems that they called military personnel to take care of G4S job.This on very short notice.

I can not imagine that G4 called in the military. I cannot imagine that the Olympic committee called in the armed forces. Armed forces were called in by the MoD after a request by the secretary of state.
Nothing personal to you, Crlhub, but the words in the media give very quickly a wrong impression.
It was G4 who anounced that they could not deliver security as expected ( way too late btw). So the government stepped in and acts accordingly. And G4 will be presented a huge bill for all that overtime.
A great move by the UK government to get some money back.
And I am sure that G4 will have to pay a bill that is not very detailed. It are not only the 3,500 military. But the ministry will not give details about extra security meassures ( all kind of officials have been called back, even from embassies abroad , and G4 will not read those details on the invoice )

Asked whether there would be any financial penalties for G4S on its £284million contract, Mrs May said the firm’s deal was with Games organisers Locog, but she understood that penalty clauses were included.