Brussels airport says it will remain closed on Wednesday, dashing hopes it would resume at least partial services after last week’s deadly suicide bomb attacks.
“The airport will also be closed for passenger flights into and out of Brussels Airport tomorrow Wednesday 30 March,” the airport says on Twitter after the authorities tested temporary check-in facilities and new security measures.
Airport spokeswoman Anke Fransen saya the decision had not been determined by the results of of the tests completed late afternoon.
“It was not a consequence of the simulation,” Fransen says.
A plane of Brussels Airlines is seen on the tarmac of Ostende airport, on March 24, 2016, in Ostend, two days after a triple bomb attack, which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State group, hit Brussels’ airport and the Maelbeek – Maalbeek subway station, killing 31 people and wounding 300 others. (AFP / BELGA / DIRK WAEM)
“The different parties are each examining all the tests and the results will only be known tomorrow morning,” she adds.
“We hope to reach a decision on a partial re-opening of the airport in the course of the morning.”
Brussels airport is a major European hub and has flights to destinations worldwide. The departure hall was packed on March 22 with Easter holiday-makers when the bombers struck.
Chief executive Arnaud Feist warned earlier that even if all the tests went well, “at best” about 20 percent of services might be restored on Wednesday.
For a full return to normal, “we will have to wait for months,” Feist told L’Echo daily.
— AFP
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