Charleroi airport will reopen its doors to travellers and resume commercial activities on June 15, it announced Wednesday. Various measures will be in place to guarantee the safety of staff and users.
To facilitate the operation of the various services, it is recommended that all bookings be made online, both for plane tickets and for parking. Wearing mouth and nose protection will be compulsory within the airport, as will maintaining a safe distance between people.
A pre-control tent will be set up before entering the terminal and the temperature of people wishing to enter the building will be taken by the Red Cross. It will be possible to pick someone up, but the P3 car park will remain closed for the time being.
Faced with a drop in activity due to the coronavirus crisis and the temporary suspension of connections to/from the tarmac by airlines, Brussels South Charleroi Airport (BSCA) had taken the decision to suspend all its commercial activities from 24 March. It had expected a gradual restart on 4 May, a deadline which was then postponed to the beginning of June.
Low-cost airline Ryanair - one of the main companies to use the airport - had already announced that flights would resume from Brussels Airport and Charleroi as of 1 July.
According to the group's managing director and founder, Michael O'Leary, reservations have already been made in Belgium, he told the Belga agency on Tuesday, explaining that outbound trips are mainly to Greece, Portugal, France, Italy and Spain.
The airline has also received a number of inbound bookings, due to people trying to get back to the country for work. "Many employees of the European Commission and other EU organisations want to go back to work," O'Leary said.
Jules Johnston
The Brussels Times
