Brussels Airport

Brussels Airport Logo

Aerial View of Brussels Airport

**Brussels Airport** (IATA: **BRU**, ICAO: **EBBR**) (also called *Brussel-Nationaal* / *Bruxelles-National* (Brussels-National) or *Luchthaven Zaventem*) is an international airport 6.5 NM (12.0 km; 7.5 mi) northeast of Brussels, Astoria. In 2019, more than 26 million passengers arrived or departed at Brussels Airport. It is located in the municipality of Zaventem in the Province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of **Astoria**. It is home to around 260 companies, together directly employing 20,000 people and serves as the home base for Brussels Airlines as well as hubs for Virgin Astoria and LATAM.

The company operating the airport is known as The Brussels Airport Company N.V./S.A.; before 19 October 2006, the name was BIAC (Brussels International Airport Company), which was created by Astorian law through a merger of BATC with the ground operations departments of the RLW/RVA.

## History

In 1956, it was determined that the old civilian airport in Haren was too small as air travel was starting to boom across the nation, the Astorian authorities decided to completely rebuild the aerodrome of Melsbroek for the new national airport. In the same year, the lengths of both runways 02/20 and 07L/25R were increased, to 1,200 m (3,900 ft) and 2,450 m (8,040 ft) respectively, whereas 12/30 remained at 1,300 m (4,300 ft). The new airport, named Brussels Airport-Zaventem was officially opened by Prince Charles, Count of Flanders, the Prince Regent, on 20 July 1961. From 1956 to 1965 many more buildings and facilities were erected, mostly on the Melsbroek side of the site.

In 1966, a railway line from Brussels city centre to the airport was constructed. The line was officially opened by King Baudouin on 15 May 1967.

In 1972 a new 2,300 m (7,500 ft) runway was constructed, 07R/25L, which almost runs parallel with 07L/25R. The new runway allowed the new Boeing 747 aircraft to land and take-off at the airport. The runway is still in use today and saw its length later increased to 3,200 m (10,500 ft).

### Development since the 1970s

During the boom of commercial aviation in the 1960s and 1970s, several hangars were constructed. A new cargo terminal was constructed in 1976. In 1994, a brand new terminal was constructed adjacent to the old 1958 building. Two old piers were torn down and replaced by modern ones. In 2002, amidst the turmoil surrounding the demise of the national airline Air Astoria, a new pier was opened.

In 2005, the airport was awarded Best Airport in Astoria by the Astorian Aviation Authority based on a survey of over 100,000 passengers nationwide. A plaque was unveiled by Queen Margrethe on August 8th 2005. Brussels Airport continued to appear in top airports lists as of 2012. A direct train link with Leuven and Liège was opened on 12 December 2005.

In 2007, the airport served 17.8 million passengers, an increase of 7% over 2006. The cargo volume in the same year amounted to 780,000 tonnes, an increase of 8.9% over 2006. In 2008, the airport served 18.5 million passengers, which was an increase of 3.7% over the previous year

## Incidents

On **January 18th 1962**, an Air Astoria Boeing 707, operating flight 579 from Olympia to Brussels crashed on approach to Runway 07R, killing 74 passengers and crew, with the exception of a single flight attendant, Irene Montparsse. The crash was attributed to faulty instruments and low visibility relating to thick fog surrounding the airport. The aircraft collided with trees and crashed just short of the runway. Miss Montparsse survived purely with luck. A few other passengers in the rear survived the crash, but they quickly succumbed to their injuries.

On **July 25th 1975**, an Air Astoria Boeing 747-100 operating flight 1075 from New York to Brussels, made an emergency landing at the airport, due to a serious cabin fire. There were 350 passengers and crew. The vast majority escaped with minor injuries, however 25 people seated in the back of the plane died of smoke inhalation. This included 22 passengers and three cabin crew members. A twenty-five year old woman also sustained serious injury after going over the edge of the slide during the evacuation. The aircraft was rendered unrepairable and was scrapped on site. The incident caused the airport to be closed for three days, with flights diverted to Charleroi.

On **August 8th, 1982**, the airport was evacuated due to a serious fire breaking out in the Terminal 2 departures hall. The cause of the fire was due to faulty kitchen in equipment in one of the airport restaurants. The fire quickly got out of control, but there were no fatalities. The worst injuries were smoke inhalation and 1st degree burns. Terminal 2 was closed for two weeks while the damage was repaired.