Brussels Airport jacks up security with more automated gates

Brussels Airport this week significantly bolstered border security by increasing the number of automated control gates at the airport from six to 24, write De Morgen and Het Laatste Nieuws. About 46,080 EU citizens arriving from a non-Schengen country will be able to pass through the automated gates daily. 

While the first automated gates, or e-gates, installed at the airport faced a number of technical problems, interior and security minister Jan Jambon assures that these initial startup issues have been resolved.

"We want to bulk up the security of our external Schengen borders," Jambon's spokesperson Olivier Van Raemdonck told the newspapers. "In addition to e-gates, we have also invested in the software and computer systems. Everything fits into a two-year plan, so the gates are an important milestone, but we are not quite there yet."

“Due to the e-gates the flow of passengers arriving from a non-Schengen country to the baggage reclaim area will be much smoother, both for the EU citizens who will use the e-gates as for the non-EU citizens whose identity will be checked manually as there will be fewer passengers using the traditional control posts”, said Arnaud Feist, CEO of Brussels Airport, at the introduction of the first six e-gates in July last year.