Reopening Brussels Airport after the 22/03/2016 terror attacks

[Conti764]

A compromise for the kiss and fly might be to have one or two lanes for taxi and other public transportation, and two lanes for general traffic with one standing lane to allow people to disembark and take their luggage.

Does anyone know if the access limited to pax only in the terminal is permanent?

[sean1982]

Safer now?
So they all learned to profile overnight? In the israelian secret service the profiling course takes a year. It's much more then just looking in a crowd and see who wears a long white robe with a black beard

Do you think that you need a PHD to do a simple profiling?
I don't think that Jan Verhagen travelling with his wife and 3 children are a risk.
Young Abdel Hamad travelling alone will be subjected to a check.
Sure it's racial profiling, it's segregation, it's, it's. You can complain all you want, Belgium is at war and police are also doing ID checks in the streets.

I don't particularily like it, but hey, it's not like we are in Syria and people are bombing our houses and then nobody knows who did it. Stop complaining about queueless pre-screenings and lack of kiss & ride, this is war.

Im not complaining. Profiling is NOT racial if done correctly. But yes, you do actually need a PhD to do it safely and correctly as it entails much more than looking if someone has a mediterean appearance and a Beard.
What I dont like is this belgian solution of: its ok now, we are "profiling" (aka pulling all muslim looking people to the side), you're all safe. In that case there are other much more effective solutions being used in airports all over the world. Facial recognition camera's for example, explosive sniffing installations and so on. Quite expensive, very effective.

I suggest you go and fold some tin foil hats flanker, you might need them with all the theorycrafting

[barnabelg]

You want to avoid BRU because you maybe pulled aside to be checked before entering the building?
What are you planning to carry, explosives?

No, I want to avoid BRU (or any other airport or station) that complicates travelling and that treats me like a criminal (and cattle) more than is necessary. Over the last 15 years we have gone from (in general) adequate security checks to the shoes, belts and liquids theatre that we have now and full-body scanners instead of metal detectors in some airports, and most people accept this now as the new normal without any form of hesitation or protest. Some people - like you - now seem to think that adding another check before entering an airport building should be added to that, that that as well should become "normal". I think that it is important that travelers (and the public in general) always question the need for additional checks of this kind.

And, yes I do know that in other countries I have to go through even more security checks before I am allowed to fly. If I leave from TLV I am profiled, questioned when my taxi arrives at the airport and questioned before check in or security. But they do not take my harmless bottle of water away from me at security, which tells me that they know what they are doing and it's not just theatre. (And face it, Israel has a lot more reasons for increased security than Belgium.)

And there is the fact that things are clearly not back to normal yet at BRU (logistically), with (I hope) temporary tents occupying the area where I would normally be dropped off by taxi. I don't know where I would be dropped off instead, but reports of people dragging luggage up stairs are not something I want to verify myself.

Belgium is at war and police are also doing ID checks in the streets.

I don't particularily like it, but hey, it's not like we are in Syria and people are bombing our houses and then nobody knows who did it. Stop complaining about queueless pre-screenings and lack of kiss & ride, this is war.

Oh please, you need to take a chill-pill, take a breath and relax. Belgium is not "at war". Belgium, like the rest of Europe, has as a problem take should/can be solved with police and intelligence work and political will. I assume that you are rather young (excuse me if I got that wrong), otherwise you would remember the 70's and 80's, a period during which there was a lot more terrorist activity all over Europe, with more victims on average every year than what we have had over the last 10 years or so. 'm not saying that the current terrorist threat is not serious, only that you should look at things in perspective.

[Flanker2]

Facial recognition camera's for example, explosive sniffing installations and so on. Quite expensive, very effective.

Facial recognition works to a certain extent, for high level criminals.
Terrorists can blow themselves up before they are intercepted.

Explosive sniffing also requires people to be dispersed. Go figure who has a boomb in the middle of a crowd.
By the time you can shout something, boom.

All pretty useless to avoid the same attack that has already occurred.

No, I want to avoid BRU (or any other airport or station) that complicates travelling and that treats me like a criminal (and cattle) more than is necessary. Over the last 15 years we have gone from (in general) adequate security checks to the shoes, belts and liquids theatre that we have now and full-body scanners instead of metal detectors in some airports, and most people accept this now as the new normal without any form of hesitation or protest. Some people - like you - now seem to think that adding another check before entering an airport building should be added to that, that that as well should become "normal". I think that it is important that travelers (and the public in general) always question the need for additional checks of this kind.

We can talk about it in a few years once ISIS is dismantled, not barely one month after people were killed and dismembered in the departure hall.

Oh please, you need to take a chill-pill, take a breath and relax. Belgium is not "at war"

There are soldiers on the streets, patrolling and surveilling. People are being killed by bombs and rifle fire.
Yes, it's a war. Do you think that BRU and the metro is the end of it?
For all I care, you may fly through DUS, FRA, AMS. There is no guarantee that they won't be hit next and I hope that you will be safe in the departure halls of those airports.

Belgium, like the rest of Europe, has as a problem take should/can be solved with police and intelligence work and political will.

You expect the same people who created to problem to solve it? That's naive.

I assume that you are rather young (excuse me if I got that wrong), otherwise you would remember the 70's and 80's, a period during which there was a lot more terrorist activity all over Europe

We are talking about a different scale. ETA and similar movements in Ireland are "enfants de coeur" compared to Al-Qaeda, let alone ISIS. ISIS is a threat of a new level by the level of hatred that they are exhibiting. ISIS kills more in a week than 50 years of ETA.

[thalenoi]

Even the head of the National Bank is calling to use AMS instead of BRU because of the prechecks http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/32616/Terreurd ... rdam.dhtml

she already regrets having tweeted this.

Because her boss told so....

[lumumba]

I just took my plane from Al Maktoum in Dubai and it was so easy .
Maybe some airlines has to move some flights to Antwerp or Liege to make it easy like here in Al Maktoum.
If for example Lufhansa put 1 or 2 flights a day from Antwep it could be nice and easy .
Maybe even a dedicated terminal for them small but fast and easy ...

I'm sure that with the 2hours in advance rule there must be a market for that.
In small structure it's easyer to organize the security etc...
And some passagers are ready to paye to win some time and to make it easy .
I realy hope they do it .

The time you coud arrive 30 minutes in advance is finished in Brussels.

[b720]

DXB removed the pre checks a few years ago.
BRU will have to remove those tents, and army..if they don't the airport is dead.
Wait and see the figures next 6 months.. More Long hauls will pull out, and the airport
Will become regional, with the current mentality that is the most it deserves anyway.
No airport or facility is immune to a suicide bomber.
Business people will not pay 1000 EUR C class European flight on SN to be 2 hours in advance at the airport.
SN figures will plummet as well.
We are not at war, we got attacked, caught the people., rebuild and We move on. Get to the source and try to prevent it from happening again.
Kabul and Baghdad are at war.

[RoMax]

I agree the pre-check should be removed completely, but it's not BRU who makes the decisions on this. They can say f*ck it, we don't want the pre-check at all, but the only consequence will be that BRU will not be allowed to handle a single local departing passenger.

Alternatives that are not so obstructive are being looked at, but takes time to develop and get approved.

But be realistic, there are simply no queues at all since Wednesday, only a very small amount is taken aside to be screened (which is a quick process if you are the only person or group being screened). Of course it's not nice, but don't exagerate the negative impact of it. At most (if you get checked) it takes about 5 minutes to get through. The current travel advice (2 hours Schengen and 3 hours non-Schengen) is the standard at basically every sizeable European airport and just like at any of these airports, you don't need that much time at all in the current situation. Arrive 30 minutes before your flight, already checked-in and fast lane security, you will make your flight just like you did before 22/03.

I still hope we will return to a situation without any form of physical pre-check, I really hope that. But with the current situation of random checks, please stop sending travellers away with scary stories that are very far from reality as if BRU is a armed bunker where your need 'at least' 2 hours to catch your flight.

[Passenger]

No airport or facility is immune to a suicide bomber. We are not at war, we got attacked, caught the people., rebuild and We move on. Get to the source and try to prevent it from happening again. Kabul and Baghdad are at war.

May I remind you that the independent, external safety experts from our OCAD/OCAM service disagree with you? They keep the country on Safety Threat level 3 (scale 1-4), so they think there is still a very high risk for a terrorism attack in Belgium.

BRU will have to remove those tents, and army.

Don’t worry. As soon as OCAD/OCAM downgrades its Safety Threat to level 2, those tents will be gone in half an hour.

BRU will have to remove those tents, and army..if they don't the airport is dead. Wait and see the figures next 6 months.. More Long hauls will pull out, and the airport will become regional, with the current mentality that is the most it deserves anyway.

The negative impact from those tents on the passengers is close to zero now, thanks to the introduction of random checks. There are no more complaints in the press or on social media about a safety risk during the pre-checks. Actually, the press now reports that the holiday exit during this very long weekend Thu-Fri-Sat-Sun went smoothly. Another step towards business as usual (except for the extra walk).

Wait and see the figures next 6 months.. More Long hauls will pull out, and the airport will become regional, with the current mentality that is the most it deserves anyway.

It’s not because a few people here repeatedly blame Brussels Airport for a problem that was caused by others and had to be solved by others, that Brussels Airport deserves to be downgraded to “regional”. The only people responsible for the image damage are the police unions. It is therefore very unfair to blame Brussels Airport (or Brussels Airlines, or any other airline) for that.

[sn26567]

I agree the pre-check should be removed completely, but it's not BRU who makes the decisions on this. They can say f*ck it, we don't want the pre-check at all, but the only consequence will be that BRU will not be allowed to handle a single local departing passenger.

Alternatives that are not so obstructive are being looked at, but takes time to develop and get approved.

But be realistic, there are simply no queues at all since Wednesday, only a very small amount is taken aside to be screened (which is a quick process if you are the only person or group being screened). Of course it's not nice, but don't exaggerate the negative impact of it. At most (if you get checked) it takes about 5 minutes to get through. The current travel advice (2 hours Schengen and 3 hours non-Schengen) is the standard at basically every sizeable European airport and just like at any of these airports, you don't need that much time at all in the current situation. Arrive 30 minutes before your flight, already checked-in and fast lane security, you will make your flight just like you did before 22/03.

I still hope we will return to a situation without any form of physical pre-check, I really hope that. But with the current situation of random checks, please stop sending travellers away with scary stories that are very far from reality as if BRU is a armed bunker where your need 'at least' 2 hours to catch your flight.

It was about time that the voice of reason be heard in this thread. You describe exactly the present situation, which allows seasoned travellers to go through the whole check-in process from parking (or railway/bus station) to gate in far less than an hour.

Brussels Airport should be promoted and supported, not denigrated!

[Inquirer]

As said earlier, I flew from BRU yesterday evening to ZRH for work (no holidays today in Switzerland).

I can confirm things go very smooth and just ad fast as before the attacks now.

I followed the news a bit, so I still decided to arrive 1.5hrs before my flight, but in hindsight that was too much: I went through the prescreening or profiling or whatever it is called now in those tents in less than a minute, and then it was just the normal flow via the metal detection in the connector (fastlane, but even without that, no significant delays), meaning I was too early for my flight and had some extra drinks in the lounge. Yep, they'll feel it in their average consumption I guess, because the lounge was packed with people who got through too early and had loads of time to kill.

If this is going to be the new normal, its a non-event really, so no more reason to hold back on flying from BRU. The advice of 2hours can be scrapped as well IHMO, although I am under the impression it's what has always been given, even before the attacks, but nobody (but charter flight passengers) respected it.

Back to normality with extra security: I'd say it's a win-win.
Wonder why it took over 40 says to come up with this solution?

[b720]

I m stating facts, not blaming anyone. Don t get too defensive passenger.
Wait and see the figures. Business travel will drop, incoming traffic as well.
No one wants to walk past machine guns. The situation has to return to normality ASAP.
A risk of an attack is always there, those white tents will not stop them from taking place!
Nor the useless presence of police. The police should be elsewhere, infiltrating, and arresting before attacks occur! Blowing oneself in the white tent once pulled over, or a few meters ahead is the same, effect and damage are the same. It is all useless, the real work is elsewhere and as I said criminals must be stopped while they plan their attacks, not on their way to the target! That s too late already.

[ezis_bis]

Just a small input here

My mother (60+) is now going to take the flight from BRU to TLL

Only the second time to take a plane alone, without husband or whatever

Arrived 18:40 in train station
Went through preclearance, to check in desk (her name was twice in Adrias booking system so could not do self check in, weird) through security

At 19:09 she calls to ask what beer I want, she was in the big tax free shop

Pretty acceptable in my opinion

Flight to Tallinn is still more than an hour to go, 20:25 if I am not mistaken

I feel not worried about my BRU-TLL flight end of the month

[sean1982]

Safer now?
So they all learned to profile overnight? In the israelian secret service the profiling course takes a year. It's much more then just looking in a crowd and see who wears a long white robe with a black beard

Do you think that you need a PHD to do a simple profiling?
I don't think that Jan Verhagen travelling with his wife and 3 children are a risk.
Young Abdel Hamad travelling alone will be subjected to a check.
Sure it's racial profiling, it's segregation, it's, it's. You can complain all you want, Belgium is at war and police are also doing ID checks in the streets.

I don't particularily like it, but hey, it's not like we are in Syria and people are bombing our houses and then nobody knows who did it. Stop complaining about queueless pre-screenings and lack of kiss & ride, this is war.

Im not complaining. Profiling is NOT racial if done correctly. But yes, you do actually need a PhD to do it safely and correctly as it entails much more than looking if someone has a mediterean appearance and a Beard.
What I dont like is this belgian solution of: its ok now, we are "profiling" (aka pulling all muslim looking people to the side), you're all safe. In that case there are other much more effective solutions being used in airports all over the world. Facial recognition camera's for example, explosive sniffing installations and so on. Quite expensive, very effective.

I suggest you go and fold some tin foil hats flanker, you might need them with all the theorycrafting

Seems the airport agrees more with me then with you

http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/36484/Aanslage ... aven.dhtml

[Conti764]

The police should be elsewhere, infiltrating, and arresting before attacks occur! Blowing oneself in the white tent once pulled over, or a few meters ahead is the same, effect and damage are the same. It is all useless, the real work is elsewhere and as I said criminals must be stopped while they plan their attacks, not on their way to the target! That s too late already.

I am very sorry, but this is utter bullsh*t. There are about 40.000 police officers in Belgium, not all or supposed to hunt terrorists, let alone 'infiltrate' their organizations... There are dozens of tasks to be executed with eacht their own profile. Police at the airport are there for security and judicial work. If they, or soldiers, are carying machine guns it is for your protection. Those machine guns are in the hands of professionals so please relax...

[nordikcam]

The police should be elsewhere, infiltrating, and arresting before attacks occur! Blowing oneself in the white tent once pulled over, or a few meters ahead is the same, effect and damage are the same. It is all useless, the real work is elsewhere and as I said criminals must be stopped while they plan their attacks, not on their way to the target! That s too late already.

I am very sorry, but this is utter bullsh*t. There are about 40.000 police officers in Belgium, not all or supposed to hunt terrorists, let alone 'infiltrate' their organizations... There are dozens of tasks to be executed with eacht their own profile. Police at the airport are there for security and judicial work. If they, or soldiers, are carying machine guns it is for your protection. Those machine guns are in the hands of professionals so please relax...

Yes...relax relax relax ! Two flights last week one to LAX an other one to MAD...and all was normal !

[Passenger]

Another victim from 22/03 fights back:

Nidhi Chaphekar, cabin crew Jet Airways, was on of the most iconic photo's after the attack at Brussels Airport. She flew Paris-Mumbai today, to be reunited with her family.


photo HLN.be

The Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws had an interview with her in the hospital, just before she was transferred from Brussels to Paris. HLN.be has an English article about this interview that will appear on Friday's newspaper (also only available for subscribers).

HLN.be:

Nidhi Chaphekar (42), the stewardess whose picture travelled round the world after the massacre, is on her way home. This evening she took a flight to Mumbai in India. There she could finally embrace her two kids after the more than two months she spent in hospital. "They clung to the one picture they had of me", Nidhi told in the hours before taking the plane. The photo travelled round the world and stood on many front pages of international newspapers. A journalist of Het Laatste Nieuws was the only one who could speak to her at the moment she left the hospital. The stewardess isn't bothered by the fact that the picture made international headlines. "People from all over the world encouraged me during the hard times. In fact, that picture saved my life." Tomorrow you can read the exclusive and touching interview with Nidhi Chaphekar in Het Laatste Nieuws.

http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/36484/Aanslage ... life.dhtml


photo HLN.be

[JOVAN]

DXB removed the pre checks a few years ago.
BRU will have to remove those tents, and army..if they don't the airport is dead.
Wait and see the figures next 6 months.. More Long hauls will pull out, and the airport
Will become regional, with the current mentality that is the most it deserves anyway.
No airport or facility is immune to a suicide bomber.
Business people will not pay 1000 EUR C class European flight on SN to be 2 hours in advance at the airport.
SN figures will plummet as well.
We are not at war, we got attacked, caught the people., rebuild and We move on. Get to the source and try to prevent it from happening again.
Kabul and Baghdad are at war.

Indeed, it is time to stop this circus.
The difficult attitude of the (Unions of the ) Airport Police has everything to do with putting pressure on the Minister to force their revendications. In other words " Chantage " "Blackmail"
Foreigners say: what a country is this, where the Unions decide about which security mesures have to be taken.
Yes, STOP the Blackmailing, move on to normal.

[teach]

Lots of bloody drama queens here all of a sudden, on BOTH sides of the issue.

Flanker2, we're NOT 'at war'. We're facing a serious security threat, and that needs to be dealt with in the most efficient and effective way possible, but turning the country into a bloody fortress is NOT that way. Stop running around like a headless chicken, screaming 'PANIC', because that's what you're doing right now.

b720, the current situation (without the checks for everyone, and without the queues) will NOT stop any meaningful number of people from using the airport long term. I still don't think it's the best use of resources, but it will not stop people from using the airport. Yes, there will be an impact on passenger numbers short-term, but that's because of the attacks that keep people away from Belgium (we saw the same thing in Paris), and because people had already started booking flights from other airports while the queues were still there at BRU, but both are temporary things. And no, b720, the travel advisory to be at the airport 2 hours in advance for an EU flight won't keep away the business passengers. Want to know how I know that? Because it didn't keep them away before the attacks either, when the EXACT same advisory was in place. Every airport has these advisories. They're meant especially for people who still need to check in, and need to check luggage. They need more time than a businesstraveller who's checked in online and only has handluggage, especially if they're taking a charter flight that has long lines at check-in.

Take a deep breath people. The world isn't about to end, and neither is BRU.

[nordikcam]

Take a deep breath people. The world isn't about to end, and neither is BRU.

Wel said !