Heavy gate shortage at BRU?

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teach
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Post by teach »

Maybe a reopening of the C-pier could be a solution in the future, before the new LCC terminal is ready...
I'm pretty sure that if the airport ever gets an LCC terminal, it will actually be the former C-terminal...

FLY4HOURS.BE
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Post by FLY4HOURS.BE »

I'm pretty sure that if the airport ever gets an LCC terminal, it will actually be the former C-terminal...
They just need to remove the "WC's" :D
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Cartman
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Post by Cartman »

MiStEr-T wrote:Someone knows why the end of the A prier isn't used ? I mean the remote stands gates at the very end of the prier..., and why there is a separation between this zone and the rest of the prier ?
Gates A71 and A72 were supposed to be used for flights to countries that are part of Shengen, but not member state of the EU (only Norway and Iceland at the moment, Switserland somewhere next year). Why? Because you don't need to go to passportcheck to travel there, but since you're leaving the EU, you're supposed to go through customs. That's why there's a glass wall and some desks at gate A72, so that the customs agents can check on people's handluggage and so. Gate A71 hasn't got a boarding bridge because it was meant to be used as a gate for busdepartures, just like gates A30 - A39, but then with the possibility of extra customs and security check. That explains why there is no parking position 171, instead there is a driveway for buses.

The gates aren't used for this purpose anymore, since there are no flights to Iceland and since Norway joined the EEA (European Economical Area) wich means that they are part of the European Union's customs zone. Switserland isn't part of it, so they could use these gates, which wouldn't be convenient if there are two Switerland-bound flights at the same time... 8)

A lot of explanation for a small detail :D
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Post by Kapitein »

teach wrote:
Maybe a reopening of the C-pier could be a solution in the future, before the new LCC terminal is ready...
I'm pretty sure that if the airport ever gets an LCC terminal, it will actually be the former C-terminal...
I'm pretty sure it won't

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Vinnie-Winnie
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Post by Vinnie-Winnie »

Brubiac wrote:
teach wrote:
Maybe a reopening of the C-pier could be a solution in the future, before the new LCC terminal is ready...
I'm pretty sure that if the airport ever gets an LCC terminal, it will actually be the former C-terminal...
I'm pretty sure it won't
Why wopuldn't it? Cheap refurbishment at minimum cost maximum cost/benefit ratio cheap prices offered to LCC's! It's a no brainer really!

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sn26567
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Post by sn26567 »

brussels airlines wrote:I think you mean gates A71 and A72 ?

A72 is a normal gate with a jetbridge, I don't know about A71. But the remote gates of pier A are on level 0 from pier A (gates A30-A39).

What I know about A71 is that it has a security check-point (metal detector and handbags machine.
These gates were mainly used for flights to/from Norway, a Schengen country (no passport control), but out of the EU (thus with customs control).
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Post by Cartman »

Yes SN, but wasn't my wikipedia-style reply clear enough? :D
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Post by spotter1102 »

FLY4HOURS.BE wrote:
I'm pretty sure that if the airport ever gets an LCC terminal, it will actually be the former C-terminal...
They just need to remove the "WC's" :D


I can't believe that Brussels Airport will build a terminal without WC...

What will happen if a flight has a big delay and some passengers need to go to...the WC ?

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sn26567
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Post by sn26567 »

Cartman wrote:Yes SN, but wasn't my wikipedia-style reply clear enough? :D

:oops: Sorry I missed it! :oops:
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Post by sn-remember »

Atlantis wrote: The airport was then used at its full capacity.
Just from memory Atlantis :
I believe in 2001 the airport accomodated around 21 millions pax.
(BTW around 15 millions in 2006)
And at that time (in 2001) it was considered to have a max capacity of around 30 millions pax if my memory is right.

So there was place for some 50% trafic growth in 2001 and today for 100% trafic growth.
Let's hope this treshold can be met in the near future :wink:

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Post by Flybe »

Just from memory Atlantis :
I believe in 2001 the airport accomodated around 21 millions pax.
(BTW around 15 millions in 2006)
And at that time (in 2001) it was considered to have a max capacity of around 30 millions pax if my memory is right.

So there was place for some 50% trafic growth in 2001 and today for 100% trafic growth.
Let's hope this treshold can be met in the near future Wink
You're correct, but I guess that the max capacity would be with an optimal spread during daytime. And even then I think the departurezone would be cramped. Now they try to jam in more and more in the morning, so that could pose a problem.

But for now I think Brussels Airport has still a nice margin to becoming really blocked, even in the morning. At the end, the beginning of the summerholidays passed without too many problems. We're really in a kind of luxuryposition (meaning the size of the airport compared to the numer of passengers).

But you need to start planning on time, that's true. A building isn't build on 1 day. So they better are already thinking of expanding the departure zone, that's critical point 1. And after that possibly pier B.

Greets,

Pieter

teach
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Post by teach »

And at that time (in 2001) it was considered to have a max capacity of around 30 millions pax if my memory is right.
Actually, that is the current capacity. In 2000 (the year with 21 million passengers) the capacity was, indeed, some 21 million passengers. Which is why, at the time, they were building the A-terminal, and renovating the old departures hall (which had been closed ever since the new terminal opened), to expand capacity to the current +/- 30 million. So, in 2000, the airport was operating at some 100% capacity.

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Atlantis
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Post by Atlantis »

teach wrote:
And at that time (in 2001) it was considered to have a max capacity of around 30 millions pax if my memory is right.
Actually, that is the current capacity. In 2000 (the year with 21 million passengers) the capacity was, indeed, some 21 million passengers. Which is why, at the time, they were building the A-terminal, and renovating the old departures hall (which had been closed ever since the new terminal opened), to expand capacity to the current +/- 30 million. So, in 2000, the airport was operating at some 100% capacity.
That was what I meant.

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Re: Heavy gate shortage at BRU?

Post by brussels airlines »

As from 15 October, Brussels Airlines Africa-flights will move from pier B to pier A.

6 gates of pier A are now T-gates. There is going to be a new lounge for Brussels Airlines at the end of the pier. This how the situation will be as from 15 October:

-SN A330 arrives at pier B , de-boards,etc.
-A330 moves to a T-gate at pier A
-Connecting pax from pier B to A can take a special bus from Brussels Airlines at gates B91-B98
-SN A330 leaves at one of the T-gates in pier A.

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Devon Rex
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Re: Heavy gate shortage at BRU?

Post by Devon Rex »

Nowadays they also use the DHL stands.

2 Saturdays in a row that I've seen BA, Sky Airlines, Turkish, Syrian, Lingus and even Brussels Airlines having a place there...

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BrightCedars
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Re: Heavy gate shortage at BRU?

Post by BrightCedars »

I definitely think that the initial project of extending the A-pier to the West, if I'm not mistaken, in any case to the side where there currently is nothing, will soon have to be put into concretization.

This will allow for a terminal of a size and capacity similar to that of the current A-pier to help double the capacity of the A-pier and allow for another 5 million passengers at least. Needless to say that some more long-haul non-Schengen capacity is required and that the reallocation of part of the existing A-pier can only be seen as a temporary solution.

What is really needed is to build the C-pier in lieu of the now defunct finger and said-to-be protected satellite. I still don't understand that monument status issue with the satellite if it is founded, I mean it's more a practical building than a monument. And it seems the main original terminal building is being kept. I truly hope this is a pipe dream and one day or another we'll see the C-pier being erected. Should SN only double their long-haul fleet in the next 4 years, there will be more and more trouble. I think a good C-pier and the 2nd wing of the A-pier would take the facility to a capacity near the 50 million mark. Which will leave room for growth, and I'm not seeing the airport being extended further than that. If needed, the average capacity of aircraft will have to rise like it does at many other airports where there is saturation.

Or would it be possible to envisage a totally new Terminal opposite the existing facilities, across the shortest runway perhaps? But that may mean some kind of light rail or metro would be needed to connect the facilities, and the development of parking and all sorts of things on that side of the airport zone.

One sure thing, Brussels Airport is reaching design capacity, particularly at certain hours, and something needs to be done about this. I'm more skeptical when it comes to the low-cost terminal, where is it that they are planning this facility again? It may be taking on vital space, although there you need less "gates" as planes generally don't call for very long.

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euroflyer
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Re: Heavy gate shortage at BRU?

Post by euroflyer »

brussels airlines wrote:As from 15 October, Brussels Airlines Africa-flights will move from pier B to pier A.

6 gates of pier A are now T-gates. There is going to be a new lounge for Brussels Airlines at the end of the pier. This how the situation will be as from 15 October:

-SN A330 arrives at pier B , de-boards,etc.
-A330 moves to a T-gate at pier A
-Connecting pax from pier B to A can take a special bus from Brussels Airlines at gates B91-B98
-SN A330 leaves at one of the T-gates in pier A.
I saw the T-signs earlier this week already, yeah. I was wondering why the passport control desks they have built only work in one direction, but your post gives the explanation. No arrivals there, only departures. However, it seems a strange and not very efficient procedure to deboard the pax first at the B-pier, than move the planes to the A-pier and board them again. It will be convenient so for the pax connecting from a schengen-destination via BRU to Africa as they can stay inside the A-pier in future. Unfortunately it will not work the other way round. Has that something to do with the schengen-rules? I think it is not allowed to mix arriving pax from non-schengen and schengen countries before they have passed through customs with their luggage and everything and they need to go through security again before boarding a flight as "we" in Europe do not trust the security checks in non-schengen airports?

I guess once the Africa-flights have left, the T-part of the A-pier will be used like today again with A-gate numbering for the rest of the day? (What do they do in case of a heavy delay of one of the Africa flights??)

And does anybody know why they choose "T" and not "C" or "D" or anything closer to letters in use right now?
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Outsync
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Re: Heavy gate shortage at BRU?

Post by Outsync »

And more, what will they do if an airplane is delayed in the early morning?
Carriers will not be very happy if they push away their plane to another position, thus having to move the pax and all the other misery that comes along !

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Re: Heavy gate shortage at BRU?

Post by b720 »

why not simply keep flights off the terminal.. indeed as mentioned above use ex-dhl spots and bus passengers to and from.. avoid the hassle of moving the planes.. being bussed from the plane after long hual is not as frustrating as when arriving from a short 50 min trip.. provided they bus C class pax on a seperate bus.. the fact that they make C pax wait on the bus for it it to fill up is a scandal.

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Re: Heavy gate shortage at BRU?

Post by euroflyer »

b720 wrote:why not simply keep flights off the terminal.. indeed as mentioned above use ex-dhl spots and bus passengers to and from.. avoid the hassle of moving the planes.. being bussed from the plane after long hual is not as frustrating as when arriving from a short 50 min trip.. provided they bus C class pax on a seperate bus.. the fact that they make C pax wait on the bus for it it to fill up is a scandal.
To me it always depends on where the bus goes to ... At some airports it is a relief to have an outside position because the bus usually brings you to a place somewhat close to the baggage belts and the exit. Whereas from some gates you have a long walk ahead of you :twisted: .

Worst case scenario on BRU-FRA eg is to depart at A70 or so in BRU and arrive at A42 in FRA. You feel afterwards like you have walked half the distance 8-)
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