Brussels Airport: passengers outraged by queues at PLF-checkpoint

A long (and stacked) queue at Brussels Airport to check the Passenger Location Forms (PLF) for passengers arriving from abroad has caused quite a commotion on social media on Sunday evening.

Since this weekend, anyone who has spent more than 48 hours in a red zone has to undergo testing on the first day of return, then be quarantined and finally undergo a second test seven days later.

Travellers must also complete a PLF. Since this weekend, the Belgian Federal Police has been carrying out stricter checks on these new measures at borders, in major stations and at airports. During these PLF-checks at Brussels Airport, things went completely wrong.

“During the entire weekend, these PLF-checks went very smooth,” said Ihsane Chioua Lekhli, spokeswoman for Brussels Airport to Het Laatste Nieuws. “But on Sunday evening, people had to queue quite some time at those checks, which suddenly resulted in a long traffic jam. Through a speaker system, we urged travellers to keep a social distance, but the announcement was in vain.”

The Federal Ombudsman of Brussels Airport, Philippe Touwaide, sent a new letter on Monday to the director of the Regulation Service of Brussels Airport to draw his attention to “the non-compliance with health rules” during the last weekend.

The Leuven University (KUL) virologist Professor Marc Van Ranst told on Facebook: “Another reason not to travel abroad. Seeing these scenes, and knowing how many red zone returnees blatantly refuse to be tested or quarantined, I suggest closing our borders for a few months (except for essential travel). This will be hard to realise, but this way it’s like pushing water uphill.”