Brussels Airport reopening date after explosions still uncertain

After last Thursday’s tragic events in Brussels, including two bombs which exploded at Brussels Airport taking the lives of eleven victims, no confirmation has yet been made as to when the airport will reopen. While the main structure of the building has been inspected by engineers, technicians and independent specialists and it has been confirmed that both the main terminal building, and Connector building, which links the terminal to Pier A, are safe, the internal structure has been severely damaged. As a consequence, there is no immediate possibility of its use for passengers. The airport confirmed that “the simple fact is that a restart in the short term is not possible because of the devastated infrastructure.”
With immediate effect, temporary structures have been installed on site for the necessary increase in security measures being adopted at airports throughout Belgium, and work has now begun in relation to the erection of further temporary structures to deal with passengers. However, health and safety rules and regulations together with checks on fire safety regulation adherence still apply to temporary structures and, as a consequence, these will have to pass certification, scheduled for today, the 28th.
It is understood that once operational, passengers will have to walk from the temporary structures to temporary check-in desks on the ground floor of the Connector building. After that passengers will then use a service stairway to access the existing security screening area of the Connector building and then onto the gates. It is not yet clear what arriving passengers will be required to do, but it may involve ferrying them from their planes to a separate hangar by bus.
In a statement from the airport: “To try out the passenger flows, the airport is organizing a major test on Tuesday [March 29], whereby 800 airport staff will test the temporary arrangements and infrastructure for the check-in procedure.
“This test will be developed in consultation with the various airport partners, the Federal Police, Defense [and] the Belgian Civil Aviation Authority.”