World City Guide

Getting There By Air

Brussels Zaventem (BRU)
Tel: (0900) 70000, for flight information. Fax: (02) 753 4250.
Website: www.brusselsairport.be

Brussels’ airport, operated by Brussels International Airport Company – BIAC (tel: (02) 753 4200), is situated 12km (eight miles) northeast of Brussels, offering flights to over 150 destinations worldwide. The number of passengers using the airport in 2001 peaked between July and September when over 20 million passengers passed through Brussels Airport, which is a modern facility quite in keeping with the stature of the city it serves. Comprehensive free information guides are widely available around the airport.

Major airlines: SN Brussels Airlines (tel: (02) 723 2323; website: www.brusselsairlines.com) has taken on most of the former Sabena routes. Currently, it is one of the two largest Belgian-based airlines, along with Virgin Express (tel. (02) 752 0511; website: www.virgin-express.com). SN Brussels Airlines serves 41 European destinations and 13 African destinations, while Virgin Express operates flights to 16 destinations across Europe. Other major airlines include Air Canada, Alitalia, American Airlines, British Airways, Continental Airlines, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and United Airlines.

Airport facilities: These include post office and medical facilities, bank and bureaux de change, ATMs, bars, restaurants, shops, tourist information and car hire from Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, National/Alamo and Sixt.

Business facilities: The Skyport Corporate Meeting Centre (tel: (02) 714 0200; fax: (02) 714 0201) is located on the fourth-floor ‘Promenade’ level and offers ten small meeting rooms and secretarial services.

Transport to the city: The Airport Line bus service, operated by MIVB/STIB (tel: (02) 515 2000; website: www.stib.irisnet.be), runs three to four times per hour daily 0457–2357. The cost of a journey into the city centre costs 3 (journey time – 40 minutes). The De Lijn bus (tel: (01) 631 3737; website: www.delijn.be) operates every 45 minutes to the city centre (journey time – 40 minutes), Monday to Friday between 0600 and 2400 and Saturdays between 0600 and 2100, costing 3. Also operated by STIB, the Airport City Express trains to the city (journey time – 15 minutes) depart every 15 minutes to Brussels’ three main stations – Gare Centrale, Gare du Nord and Gare du Midi. A first-class one-way ticket costs 3.80, while a second-class ticket costs 2.50. Services operate daily 0600–2400.

Taxis to the centre cost about 30. Hotel courtesy coaches go to the Holiday Inn, Novotel and Sofitel.

Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL)
Tel: (07) 125 1211. Fax: (07) 125 1202
Website: www.charleroi-airport.com

Brussels’ second and smaller airport is located 55km (37 miles) south of Brussels, in Charleroi – a one-hour drive from Lille, in the North of France. The privately owned airport, which belongs to the Walloon region and private investors, is an international airport for passenger and freight traffic, a test and training flight base for aeronautical industry and a centre for general and business aviation. The acknowledged training centre of all Belgian airlines, Belgian Flight School, is also based here. Low-cost airline Ryanair serves London, Shannon, Dublin, Glasgow Prestwick, Venice, Carcassonne, Pisa, Venice, Rome, Milan and Liverpool.

Major airlines: Ryanair (tel: (0900) 10310, French only or (0900) 10740, Flemish only; website: www.ryanair.com) operates most passenger flights to and from Charleroi Airport. Other airlines using the airport include Air Alfa Air Algrie, British Midland, Futura, Istanbul Airlines, Noubel Air, Turkish Airlines and Virgin Express.

Airport facilities: Facilities include bars, shops, lost property, a bank and duty-free shop. Car hire is available from Hertz. Avis (tel: (07) 132 3535) and All Top Rent a Car (tel: (07) 132 3334), which are based in Charleroi and will deliver cars to the airport.

Business facilities: There is a first class lounge available in the terminal.

Transport to the city: The MIVB/STIB (tel: (02) 515 2000; website: www.stib.irisnet.be) bus 68 runs from Charleroi Airport to the nearby Charleroi train station (journey time – 10 minutes) weekdays 0600–2330 and weekends 0620–2230. From there, a frequent SNCB (tel: (02) 528 2828; website: www.sncb.be) train service connects to Brussels’ main stations, daily 0500–2400 (journey time – 45 minutes). Tickets cost 10. There are plans to extend the rail link directly to the airport, but this is some years away.

The door-to-door Airport Transfer Service (tel: (04) 7342 9490; e-mail: cromexa@yahoo.fr; website: www.cromexa.be) costs between 10 and 25. Taxis also run to central Brussels, costing 85 (journey time – 40 minutes).

Approximate flight times to Brussels: From London is 55 minutes; from New York is 10 hours; from Los Angeles is 16 hours; from Toronto is 7 hours 45 minutes and from Sydney is 27 hours.

Arrival/departure tax: 9.77 departure tax and 6.20 transfer tax is charged as part of the ticket price.