Damage to the asphalt has been observed on one of Brussels Airport's three runways, requiring it to be closed for most of each day for renovation works in the coming weeks.
The works will even mean that for one week at the end of June 2024, the airport will have to operate largely with only one runway. Specifically, runway 25L/07R is in need of maintenance. Last year it was used for 30% of all flights to and from the airport, mainly landings from the east.
Damage to the asphalt was found during inspections of the runway. The problems are not only due to normal wear and tear but "perhaps also due to the changing weather conditions with large amounts of rainfall and increasingly high temperatures," the airport said in a press release.
The damage is not yet so severe that the runway can no longer be used, airport spokeswoman Ihsane Chioua Lekhli specifies, "but it is important that renovations are done in the near future".
To prepare and lay a new layer of asphalt, 25L/07R will be closed from 12:00 to 05:00 from now until 28 June. Taking into account flight schedules, it has been decided to keep the runway operational during the morning peak. From 22 to 28 June, runway 01/19 (the airport's cross runway) will also be out of use due to renovation works.
