Security chaos at Brussels last night

[Desert Rat]

Chaos again this morning...

[regi]

Please don't feed the terrorists ideas. It is not a new idea to blow up waiting passengers, see the attacks in Vienna and Rome in 1985:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome_and_V ... rt_attacks

The next step will be screening before you enter the terminal building. If you think you endured a mess , well, outside screening is messier. ( I had it some years ago at Bangkok airport, unannounced, resulting in standing in a line for half an hour in 35°C )
At HCMC airport, I had to show a valid ticket before being allowed entrance at the terminal building.

So, there goes our freedom. Thank you Abu, Hassan, Saïd and the rest of Al Qaeda Inc.

[bxleu]

Was flying from BRU Pier A on Thursday (21 May 09) at 9am. I have never seen anything close to such a mess before at BRU (and I have flown from BRU on average twice a month in the last four years). The longest waiting I had before was less than 10 minutes. On Thursday, it took 43 minutes (I timed it), and I was lucky because I could use the fast lane (although it took 25 minutes to get to the fast lane entrance). The crowd filled approximately one third of the long corridor (i.e. more than half of the second moving walkway), on both sides and in the middle of the moving walkways. I would have missed my flight had it not been 20 minutes late (they were shouting my name at me while I was arriving at the gate...).

Most security checkpoints were open, except one at the very right (to the right of the fast lane). We were asked to take the shoes off. Is this a new rule or was this just done to reduce beeping?

A few things came to my mind while waiting:

• The morons (sorry) that made up these "improved" rules probably decreased security. A massive crowd of 1000 people (maybe more, hard to estimate) before the screening seems like a much more attractive terrorist target than a chance to smuggle a concealed weapon through security.
• If this situation will continue even only for a little longer, BRU Airport should create proper cordoned-off lines inside the long corridor, zigzagging forward and back.
• Fast lane should have a separate line cordoned-off and policed at the entrance to that line (the scanner was ineffective because everybody just kept the gate open).
• Ask the airlines to send out e-mails to their passengers asking them to arrive earlier than usual. I was caught by surprise by this, and could easily have arrived earlier had I known of this issue. (I usually arrive 50-60 minutes prior to departure and usually have enough time to spend 20 minutes in the lounge.)
• Let me know if you think this situation will not change in the medium term. I will then rethink my "mobility strategy" and change to train or car if I can get to my destination in 5 hours or less.

I had to go through security check at pier A on that same day (21 May) to catch a flight at 7 am. It took me 1 hour to leave that "hell", have never experienced anything similar (felt like in a third world country to be honest!)! I wonder how many passengers are missing their flights due to this new system... I was lucky enough to have a SN staff member calling for passengers to WAW and managed to overtake other people in the queue... and yes I did arrive earlier than usual because I was aware of the problem at BRU! Is this the airport of the so-called "capital of Europe"???

[Ducatibiker]

Quite agree...the fast lane is a joke.

In the middle of the lane, there is an open acess for the next lane so anyone can just sneak in....I had the case this morning where some passengers sneaked in with a lot of carry and just jeopardised the usefulness of the fast lane.

When is this aiport going to wake up and really care about the business PAX ?

[euroflyer]

Quite agree...the fast lane is a joke.

In the middle of the lane, there is an open acess for the next lane so anyone can just sneak in....I had the case this morning where some passengers sneaked in with a lot of carry and just jeopardised the usefulness of the fast lane.

When is this aiport going to wake up and really care about the business PAX ?

I agree !! Since the start of this fast lane it has been announced it would be open for all LH pax with *Alliance Gold (Senator) level, REGARDLESS of the class you travel in. This is what LH has told me, this is what the signs above the entrance show. But still until today this barrier does not open if you show a boarding pass of LH for an eco flight with your SEN-level clearly noted on the boarding pass. It does work in FRA and many other airports. Why can this not be fixed in BRU??? Even worse: If you book a SN flight in b.flex you should be able to use the fast lane. But if you check in for this flight with LH (because maybe the inbound flight to BRU was a codeshared LH flight from Germany) than the barrier will not accept the Boarding Pass AND the other way round (book a LH flight with SN flight number in b.flex, no chance to use the fast lane with your LH eco boarding pass). PLUS: The barrier opens for 5 seconds or so each time, enough for at least 3 people to sneak in the fast lane behind the person who opened it. Why is it not possible to place a "real person" their at the entrance??

[b720]

Even worse, the fast lane scanner does not read your SN B FLEX boarding pass, if checked in on line and boarding pass is a print out!! It happened to me 2 weeks ago.. honestly, my opnion for what it is worth..
BRU airport below standards, and SN Airlines way below..they need to be taken over completely by LH the brand should dissapear.

[sn26567]

Even worse, the fast lane scanner does not read your SN B FLEX boarding pass, if checked in on line and boarding pass is a print out!!

You must have had a bad printer. With me it worked...

[Air Key West]

My home printed boarding passes, so far, have let me get access to the fast lane.
I also object to people filtering in into the fast lane from the security lane next to it. It makes the fast lane a joke.
As to the long waiting times, I have refrained form taking part in this discussion, because I usuallly feel sympathy with workers when they take action to react to an unfair situation. However, here, I am clearly upset too. Correct me if I am wrong, but my analysis of the situation is that BRU security recently got a negative security audit because some categories of people working at the airport were not screened according to the rules. Well, these rules may seem ridiculous to some, but I, too, have to comply with a great number of rules (in different areas) which I find ridiculous because very often they were decided by people sitting in an office without experience on the field. If you don't like the rules, try to change them, but that may prove difficult.
Because they got critised in an international audit, security agents screening pax at BRU have decided to apply every single rule which CAN be applied to pax, but which does not necessarily have to be applied, like requiring that pax take off their shoes. We are not in the UK and the vast majority of airports in continental Europe do not require you to take off your shoes (unless you wear boots). So, it is not a compulsory rule. On top of it, my experience is that security agents intentionally slow down the process and react in a childish and irresponsible way to criticism. As far as I know they just got bad marks in an audit. They were not subject to sanctions or fines. So, they should react as adults and admit they did not fully apply the compulsory rules. If every day you drive your car at 70 km/hour in an area were you may only drive 50, one day you will get a speeding ticket. This is more or less what happened at BRU and the security people just cannot pick it. Childish. Consequently, I have no sympathy at all with them and I hope that their irresponsible behavior causing so many inconveniences will strongly backfire to them. That's all they deserve.

[Malaysia]

I think I am sure I will miss my flight in July...

[Outsync]

I think I am sure I will miss my flight in July...

Be well on time, and don't miss it!

[Megaman]

Last night I took the 19.45 flight to Athens, and there were people waiting already half way the last people mover (which luckily they turned off or this could have been comical). 40 minutes it took me to get through scanning. Not only the wait was long but the heating had been turned on to full blast. Probably ideal conditions for the swine flu virus to spread. Good human contact...

Ever since I've been using the shengen terminal I've never had to deal with this situation. What's even worse is that all lanes were open so I'm not really sure what the issue is... Luckily I was at the airport 2 hours in advance. Starting to be risky business flying out of brussels with the congestion on the motorways to get there, the congestion at the check in desks for certain companies and the congestion now at the security check points... Flight to Athens was pretty smooth however. Nice on board staff (very professional and nice to look at) and not too many turbulances.

[Air Key West]

Next time I have a problem with security checks at BRU, I will send a complaint to BRU. I checked their web site. All one has to do is to click on Contact / Complaints / With regard to service at Brussels Airport and send an email. I suggest we all do the same and see what they will answer.

[airbuske]

Yesterday evening it took 50 minutes to pass security.
All pax and ground staff are unhappy with this situation,
al lot of passenger are to late at the gate for boarding
this causes delays.

If we staff, dare to complain at the security we can loose our airport badge

Please send all an complaint to Brussels Airport if you
have problems with the security checks!

[OO-VCL]

Hi Everyone,

Complaint on the Brusselsairport site has ben done. I almost missed my flight last monday.
And indeed, in the midde of the priority lane, everyone from the next "regular" lane could shift. Incredible !

Best Regards

[b720]

I sent a complaint too..and we have started booking on AF brussel zuid - cdg -
more comfortable to work on the train, than line up for an hour at BRU, plus be at the airpot 2-3 hours before the flight.. ridiculous that diverting to CDG still pays off!!! I hope situation changes by sept.. otherwise all our flights throughout the winter will be via CDG.

[Conti764]

If we staff, dare to complain at the security we can loose our airport badge

Who told you so? This seems rubbish to me! They can only take your badge when you perform an intrusion of the (security) rules (e.g. using your badge when you're not on duty,...)

[zteven]

My oh my.

All my flights were delayed today, again.

The crew are not even surprised anymore by this 'security-inconvenience' at BRU.

Greetz!



Steven

[FLYAIR10]

If this continues all the new customers from Holland will soon disappear again..especially after 1 july when the dutch stop their extra tax...

[summersso]

Why is this happening all of a sudden?

Almost missed a flight on Friday morning at 7am here to Vienna -> meant I had no time to shop as I had hoped to (airport shops can't be very happy!). BRU must fix this asap.

[Conti764]

Why is this happening all of a sudden?

Almost missed a flight on Friday morning at 7am here to Vienna -> meant I had no time to shop as I had hoped to (airport shops can't be very happy!). BRU must fix this asap.

I heard they are working on something that will resolve all problems before the summer season.