Brussels Airport temporary check-ins working smoothly

The temporary check-in installation at Brussels Airport is working perfectly, with no problems reported since operations started on Sunday, an airport spokesperson said. On Sunday, three flights landed and three took off. On Monday the number had gone up to 25, and today will see about 100, the airport hopes.

The flights are the first to depart and land at the airport since suicide bombers blew themselves up in the departures hall on 22 March. “Thanks to our phenomenal team’s hard work, we’re coming back,” said airport CEO Arnaud Feist. “But we realise that only 200 metres of the marathon is yet run.”

The airport’s main hope is that airlines will come back to Zaventem. Delta Airlines has already put one of its two routes out of the airport – Brussels to Atlanta – on hold, while Brussels to New York remains. Russian airline Aeroflot, by contrast, said it would be back on Thursday.

This morning’s schedule includes flights to Paris, Zurich, Vienna, Frankfurt and Rome, as well as scheduled flights later in the day to Stockholm, Budapest, Milan, Venice and Geneva. For the time being, only European destinations appear on the schedule. Three flights on Wednesday – to Berlin, Basel and Barcelona – have been cancelled, while others, including to Paris, Vienna and Rome, are going ahead.

The airport advises passengers to check first with their airline to verify that their flight will take off. Airport and police advise turning up at least three hours before departure to take account of the new security measures.

Photo: Ye Pingfan/Xinhua Press/Corbis