Angry stranded passengers block access towards terminal B of Brussels Airport

Several travellers flying through Brussels Airport reported that disgruntled passengers were blocking the area behind the passport control and the access at terminal B (non-Schengen) on Thursday morning (8 December). Indeed, yesterday’s Brussels Airlines flight SN369 towards Douala and Yaounde, Cameroon returned to Brussels after a technical glitch. Passengers were shouting “Voyager” (travel) in French while police officers tried to cool down the situation.

Brussels Airport spokesperson Nathalie Piérard said: “On Wednesday evening, a Brussels Airlines aircraft (an Airbus A330 registered OO-SFX) destination Cameroon was forced to return to Brussels Airport due to a technical problem.

“As a result, the aircraft could no longer return to Douala and the news was not well received by some passengers in the transit zone.”

“When the passengers discovered that they couldn’t continue their journey on Thursday morning because the flight was fully booked and that they are not allowed to leave the transit area, they decided to block the access of pier B to all passengers,” she added.

Aviation24.be asked Brussels Airlines for their explanations about this incident. Spokesperson Maaike Andries replied: “Flight SN369 to Douala had to return to Brussels on December 7 for technical reasons. Brussels Airlines has done its utmost to offer passengers a solution as soon as possible. There were 273 passengers on board, of which about 40 did not have a visa for the Belgian territory and therefore had to spend the night at the airport. The other passengers who were able to leave the airport spent the night at the hotel. Part of the passengers was able to fly to their destination on today’s flight. Other passengers will be able to fly tomorrow. Passengers without a visa flying tomorrow were offered assistance to obtain transit visas in order to offer them a hotel for the night.”