12 days after bombings, Brussels Airport to reopen

Brussels Airport is to reopen Sunday, 12 days after its departure hall was wrecked by Islamic State suicide bombings, with chief executive Arnaud Feist announcing three flights.

“From Sunday morning, Brussels Airport should be partially operational,” Feist told a press conference Saturday, adding that the resumption of services “plays an important role in our grieving process.”

“This restart, even if it’s only partially, is a sign of hope,” he said.

The first scheduled flights to Athens, Turin and Faro will be operated by Brussels Airlines and start leaving from Sunday afternoon.

A total of 32 people were killed in the coordinated Islamic State blasts on the airport and a Brussels metro station, the worst-ever attacks in the de facto capital of the European Union. Eleven were killed at the airport.

Soldiers stand in front of a sign to the Brussels Airport in Zaventem, Belgium, March 29, 2016. (AFP/John Thys)

On Friday, a Belgian government source said authorities reached a deal with police to introduce tighter security at the airport, paving the way for Saturday’s announcement.

He said the government and the airport operator had given in to their main demand for “systematic checks” of passengers and their luggage before going through customs.

The operator of Brussels Airport had said Thursday the airport was “technically ready” to resume partial services after testing new, temporary check-in facilities.

Brussels Airport CEO Arnaud Feist gives a press conference regarding the reopening of Brussels Airport on April 2, 2016 in Zaventem. (AFP/Belga/Nicolas Maeterlinck)

Complaining about lax security in the past, police unions proposed using metal detectors to check all visitors before they enter the airport zone and introducing checks on cars.

The airport operator warned however that such moves would create long queues outside the building that could be another target for attackers.

“There aren’t any European airports that apply such measures,” Brussels Airport spokeswoman Florence Muls said Friday.

It was not immediately clear if the new security checks agreed in the deal would take place outside or inside the temporary departure hall.

When Brussels airport does reopen Sunday, it will only be working at 20 percent capacity, the operator warned, handling 800 to 1,000 passengers an hour. Feist has said it could take months for airport operations to return to normal.