With school in Flanders and Dutch-medium schools in Brussels breaking up for the school vacation today, Brussels Airport at Zaventem in Flemish Brabant is experiencing one of its busiest days of the year. The airport’s spokeswoman Ihsane Chioua Lekhli advises passengers to get to the airport in plenty of time. This July and August are going to busier than was the case during last year’s summer vacation.
With 83,000 passengers expected at Brussels Airport today, Friday 28 June will be the busiest day of the whole summer vacation at the airport. Ihsane Chioua Lekhli told VRT News that the forthcoming weekend and next week will be very busy too. “The busy period is being spread over two weekends as the summer vacation in French-medium education starts a week later”.
With crowds and long queues expected Brussels Airport recommends arriving in good time. "For flights within the Schengen zone, this should be two hours in advance. When flying outside the Schengen zone, it is best to add an extra hour. This is because there are additional passport checks. It’s not necessary to come any earlier than that, even on very busy days like today."
"Another tip I definitely would definitely give is to check your luggage well in advance. Make sure it is not too heavy and also be sure to check which items are not permitted in your hand luggage. This will prevent the checks on your luggage taking longer”.
"A total of 5 million passengers will travel through Brussels Airport in July and August. This is 6% more than last year. The most popular destinations remain Spain, the Canary Islands, Greece, Turkey, Portugal, Morocco, Italy and Egypt."