BREAKING NEWS

Brussels airport to partially reopen on Friday evening

By REUTERS

MARCH 31, 2016 17:34

BRUSSELS - Brussels airport will partially reopen for passenger flights on Friday evening after its closure following the March 22 bomb attacks, the company running the airport said.

Belgian police, the fire brigade and the Belgian Civil Aviation Authority have been checking the airport, whose departure hall was badly damaged by the two blasts, to see if it was ready to resume service.

"The airport is...technically ready for a restart of passenger flights in the temporary infrastructure foreseen for check-in," the Brussels Airport Company said in a statement.

The provisional arrangement will allow the airport to receive 800 departing passengers per hour, or 2.5 million departing passengers a year, which is 20 percent of the normal capacity of the airport.

Arriving passengers will go through the usual baggage reclaim and arrivals in the terminal. This zone was only slightly damaged and has since been restored for use.

"The final step for the restart is the formal political approval. In the meantime, it has been decided that there will be no passenger flights until Friday evening," the statement said.

Brussels Airport is one of the largest airports in Europe, handling 23.5 million passengers and 489,000 tonnes of freight annually. It links the Belgian capital with 226 destinations worldwide that are served by 77 different airlines.

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