Reopening Brussels Airport after the 22/03/2016 terror attacks

[evyncke]

At the bare minimum, let's try to be vocal on twitter & Facebook towards BRU airport, SN and our 'smart' politicians (including our Premier).

For example: https://twitter.com/BrusselsAirport/sta ... 3850865667

See also Frequent Flyers forums:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/lufthans ... nts-7.html

[Kris]

At the bare minimum, let's try to be vocal on twitter & Facebook towards BRU airport, SN and our 'smart' politicians (including our Premier).

For example: https://twitter.com/BrusselsAirport/sta ... 3850865667

I have sent an email to the department of minister Jambon, asking him to get out of his winter sleep regarding the airport issue. No reply expected though ...

[barnabelg]

Could it be that BRU is trying to avoid the pre-screening becoming permanent and hence intentionally making the queues build?

I hope so. Better the short pain than long time suffering...
Why should BRU be different from all other airports in Europe? Don't tell me that airports in Paris and London have a lower terrorist risk than BRU.

[Homo Aeroportus]

.... Could it be that BRU is trying to avoid the pre-screening becoming permanent and hence intentionally making the queues build?...

As I wrote yesterday Flanker2 : making the point ex absurdo.

Asking passengers to arrive "at least 3 hours" before flight time, reporting the problems in the media, all this leads to people coming even earlier ... leading to more queues.

The more obvious the problem is, the sooner a drastic change will be enforced.
Should be a matter of a few days now, hopefully.

So let's continue putting pressure by expressing our discontent, and ... by using BRU.
Which I will do again tomorrow.
Though more than 2 weeks ago there was barely any waiting through the temporary structure, this was at mid-day and then still low volume. Tomorrow will be a different ball game for me, taking the 07:40 bus for a day trip to FCO. Don't think I'll arrive at 04:40 though.

H.A.

Maybe we should all report our experience on a dedicated topic. Short report formatted with time stamps (A201, Parking, out of tent, out of conventional screening, ...)

[Jetter]

That is not the responsibility of police unions, but Brussels Airport security.

It IS the responsibility of police unions (and b-west), because they demanded these checks. These most coward police indeed knew they wouldn't be at risk this way, but Brussels Airport security.

[Shengenzone]

Any other volunteers to help with the creating of an open letter? (Especially somebody who is fluent in german)
And if admins are reading this are you willing to post them on your FB page after review?
Member Evyncke will make the draft.

[Charlie Roy]

Apparently, Federal Minister for the Interior, Jan Jambon, and the Police unions have agreed to new security procedures starting Wednesday that will "drastically decrease" the waiting times.

http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/1901/reisnieuw ... oeld.dhtml

http://www.lesoir.be/1198879/article/ec ... ce-mercred

[evyncke]

Apparently, Federal Minister for the Interior, Jan Jambon, and the Police unions have agreed to new security procedures starting Wednesday that will "drastically decrease" the waiting times.

Thanks for the added (bi-lingual ) pieces of information.

I cannot refrain from wondering what 'decrease' means... decreasing by 5 minutes out of a 1-hour wait? or removing the wait?

And, as a Belgian ex-BRU passenger, I care only about the wasted time but as a international company employee, I do even care more about the image presenting by Belgium to the world: a 3rd-world security.

[teach]

Apparently, Federal Minister for the Interior, Jan Jambon, and the Police unions have agreed to new security procedures starting Wednesday that will "drastically decrease" the waiting times.

http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/1901/reisnieuw ... oeld.dhtml

http://www.lesoir.be/1198879/article/ec ... ce-mercred

Wishful thinking: NO new measures have been agreed on. Jambon is HOPING they will reach an agreement in negotiations tomorrow. I fully expect to hear tomorrow that no agreement has been reached, that the unions won't budge, and that yet another new meeting several days later will be needed to start all over again. Meanwhile, the airport will continue to bleed.

[teach]

At the bare minimum, let's try to be vocal on twitter & Facebook towards BRU airport, SN and our 'smart' politicians (including our Premier).

For example: https://twitter.com/BrusselsAirport/sta ... 3850865667

See also Frequent Flyers forums:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/lufthans ... nts-7.html

This is also THE number one topic on the facebookgroup "Front tegen de actiegroepen tegen nachtlawaai op Zaventem" (Front against the action groups that want a night ban at BRU), which has almost 6,000 members. One of those members is Marc Descheemaecker BTW, so he gets to read all the comments there:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1607217082892268/

[Flanker2]

I think that the pre-screening SHOULD NOT be removed. An attempt to get that with commercial interests in mind is foolish.
It should be made more efficient through more security equipment and staff.
Put those BRU profits to work. How much was it again? 300 million in profits in 2014? Use that! Isn't security a big part of what we are paying 30EUR for?

The pre-screening can protect the airport and the airlines from another attack.
By making it more efficient it can also protect the passengers inside the airport.

The next attack inside the airport within months from the first one would be the end for Brussels Airlines.

DO NOT REMOVE THE PRE-SCREENING.
MAKE IT EFFICIENT, SO THAT THERE ARE NO QUEUES OUTSIDE.

Why is this so difficult?

[Jetter]

The pre-screening can protect the airport and the airlines from another attack.
By making it more efficient it can also protect the passengers inside the airport.

No it can't. It only relocates the security risk, hence it's crazy and shortsighted. All the people waiting in line outside are just as viable as IS target as are the check-in desks.

[Passenger]

I think that the pre-screening SHOULD NOT be removed.
It should be made more efficient through more security equipment and staff.

The pre-screening can protect the airport and the airlines from another attack.
By making it more efficient it can also protect the passengers inside the airport.

DO NOT REMOVE THE PRE-SCREENING.
MAKE IT EFFICIENT, SO THAT THERE ARE NO QUEUES OUTSIDE.

You really have no idea what is going on. Not in general, not aviation related. The police unions abuse their power at Brussels Airport to obtain a review of the new police pension plan. That's the reason why they limit it to 3 "pre screening test". It has nothing to do with "safety": the trade unions can't defend a strike, so they have choosen for this kind of pressure on minister Jambon.

Everybody in the trade knows that the queues create an extremely dangerous situation for the passengers. Even most passengers know this - check the news reports. It will only exclude or limit damage to a building.

The next attack inside the airport within months from the first one would be the end for Brussels Airlines..

Indeed. But what a stupid remark. You could also say "a second airport bomb, but this time at Charleroi Airport, would mean the end for Ryanair's operations in Belgium". You could also say "a bazooka attack to a departing cargo aircraft at LGG would mean the end for LGG". You could also say "a bomb in the Antwerp Cathedral would be the end for many hotels in Belgium".

[barnabelg]

Isn't security a big part of what we are paying 30EUR for?

Yes, but that is about security IN THE AIR.

Security in the air is what security at airports has always been about. Because of the amount of damage (and number of victims) that can be achieved by targeting a plane in the air, air travel has been a special security case for years. (Just imagine the number of victims if the bombs of the Brussels attacks had exploded on board several planes instead.) The airport security that we are paying for has never been about security in the terminal, simply because an airport terminal is no different than a train station, a metro station or a shopping mall (to give just a few examples).

[N77014]

Shame on those police unions. Do people who need to take the subway in Brussels - where more victims were made - need to be there 3 hours in advance as well for ridiculous security checks ??? No ? What is the logic then of the airport screenings ???

[Flanker2]

The pre-screening can protect the airport and the airlines from another attack.
By making it more efficient it can also protect the passengers inside the airport.

No it can't. It only relocates the security risk, hence it's crazy and shortsighted. All the people waiting in line outside are just as viable as IS target as are the check-in desks.

Why do you associate pre-screening with lines outside?
At the supermarket, when the lines become longer, they will open more registers and the lines become shorter.

You have 6-8 open x-ray screening lines between the departure hall and terminal A and B, but only 2-4 outside to get into the departure hall.

Find the problem.

[Passenger]

Why do you associate pre-screening with lines outside? At the supermarket, when the lines become longer, they will open more registers and the lines become shorter. You have 6-8 open x-ray screening lines between the departure hall and terminal A and B, but only 2-4 outside to get into the terminal. Find the problem.

OK, now that we know that you work for a supermarket, we can move on.

Imagine your supermarket has 12 cash registers.

Imagine the local police says that you are only allowed to open 2 cash registers at the same time "for safety reasons we don't discuss about".

That is what happened at Brussels Airport today. Plenty of airport staff, plenty of airline staff, 110 registers in the departure hall. But only 3 police checks. And police unions forbit that a 4th is opened.

[Jetter]

Why do you associate pre-screening with lines outside?

Because every check will create a line sooner or later, just as at the supermarket. It doesn't matter if you can prevent a line most of the time, terrorists can wait a while. Bottom line is: terrorists can successfully attack people at BRU no matter where the 1st checks are. Checks make sense to ensure safety on planes, otherwise they are just replacing the danger area.

[avroflyer_1]

@Flanker2 There is just no point in keeping these checks up, it's just ridiculous...

You don't go trough a check to enter a shopping mall, cinema, train station,... either, do you? While essentially those places could be a target too with an equal amount of victims if they were to attack it.

So why should an airport have such entry checks? especially since BRU is the only airport in the west that has it...

[flightlover]

News reporting says that the bottleneck is the passport and ticket check.
This is not my experience as police officers do this quickly and efficiently.
The bottleneck is the first X-ray and metal detector screening after the passport check (at least in the temporary structure, but why would it be different upstairs?), conducted by G4S.

That is not the responsibility of police unions, but Brussels Airport security.

I think that BRU has enough staff if they want to. There are also many security lanes open at the airside screening, there were no queues there at all. They have many airside vehicle access checkpoints where the same staff and equipment is used.
So IMO they can easily close a few of them to forward security staff and equipment to where they are really needed.

Could it be that BRU is trying to avoid the pre-screening becoming permanent and hence intentionally making the queues build?
Operating an additional security layer would cost millions per year, so that could be a motivation. Also, a lot of non-flyers can't enter the departures hall and spend money at restaurants and coffee shops.

Will look forward to that trip report SN26557.

Maybe news to you, but they closed at least one checkpoint already. Closing more will create all sorts of problems. From supply issues to staffing issues (easy access is needed to get all employees in on time)