BRU in "Airports of the world" mag

[airazurxtror]

The english magazine "Airports of the world" (issue 33 - jan/feb 2011) features an article on Brussels Airport, written by a Mark Nicholls with the acknowledged assistance of the BRU Head of Aviation Marketing, the Communication Manager and a member of Corporate Communications.
It covers : History, Terminal, Infrastructure, Cargo, Airlines, Future.
With a nice two-page picture of the whole airport, taken from high above.

I did not know :
" To reach Pier A it is necessary to descend to a wide connecting tunnel (...) which allows passengers to pass beneath the taxiway above. This taxiway is not really needed so the airport is to begin building a surface level connection shortly across it which will simplify the journey."
A very good idea indeed !

"Another area with considerable growth potential is the budget carriers. The marketing team is working hard to attract other (than easyJet) LCC to the airport".
Another very good idea !

[Atlantis]

It was indeed not published that BRU considered a connection building between pier A and the terminal.

But it was till today not possible because of no money for this landmark.

[theeuropean]

I wonder who the LCC can be? Ryanair? They have been talking about starting up at major airports. I'm hoping (although this is a huge dream) for Air Asia X to KL - that would be interesting to say the least.

They also mention that they want Thai, Singapore Airlines and ANA (no surprise there for all of them).
They also want to get more US destinations and bigger aircraft to fly. They say that they have got Hong Kong Airlines on their books - when will they start flying?

What's also is important is the Diabolo project - Antwerp will be 27 mins away by train and Amsterdam little over an hour (bigger catchment area).

[tolipanebas]

Just what is the advantage of such a surface level link between the terminal and Pier A, if I may ask?
The distance isn't really going to get any shorter with it.
Sure, you'll save a couple of minutes as you won't need to take the escalators up and down any longer, but to close off a taxiway for it... Don't know if it should be such a big priority really.

If they want to cut travel times from the terminal to Pier A, they should better install a kind of tramway in the tunnel, so pax can take that rather than walk the mile on foot. Several airports have such mini rail link, like for instance IAD and it works fine!

[DeltaWiskey]

What's also is important is the Diabolo project - Antwerp will be 27 mins away by train and Amsterdam little over an hour (bigger catchment area).

Are you implying that Antwerp to Amsterdam is just a little over 30min by train? Wow, didn't know that...

[theeuropean]

Sorry - no the train journey from Brussels Airport to Antwerp will be 27 mins and from Brussels Airport to Amsterdam slightly more than 1 hour.

[sn26567]

It was indeed not published that BRU considered a connection building between pier A and the terminal.

It is mentioned in today's press release of Brussels Airport: viewtopic.php?p=243705#p243705

Sorry - no the train journey from Brussels Airport to Antwerp will be 27 mins and from Brussels Airport to Amsterdam slightly more than 1 hour.

... which means that Antwerp to Amsterdam is slightly more than 33 minutes! Are you sure?

[theeuropean]

Right now with Thalys it's about 1 hour. If the plan is to put the Thalys trains non-stop from Antwerp - Amsterdam then it might cut down the time the trains currently lose by stopping at R'dam and Schipol. This to me doesn't seem to be enough though to cut the journey by 30 or so minutes. This is what was written in the magazine so it probably very likely is wrong.

[SN_fan]

I had heard that they might move the security check-point to the beginning of the tunnel and put shops in the tunnel to make it a more pleasant journey going to the A-pier.

Isn't the distance to the A-pier mainly an issue for connecting passengers from the B-pier (length + time) ? Because I always wondered why they didn't make a passport control in the middle and use transfer busses from A to B

[galaxy]

On the actual timeteble of the Thalys , Antwerp-Schiphol is 56 minutes with a stop at Rotterdam.

http://www.thalys.com/be/en/timetables/ ... ld_d=NLSPH

[Boavida]

If there will be a (faster) surface level link between the terminal and Pier A, nobody is gonna use the tunnel anymore, so what about the shops, etc that are located there? If the tunnel loses its function, it's a big waste of money, no?

[Conti764]

I did not know :
" To reach Pier A it is necessary to descend to a wide connecting tunnel (...) which allows passengers to pass beneath the taxiway above. This taxiway is not really needed so the airport is to begin building a surface level connection shortly across it which will simplify the journey."
A very good idea indeed !

Strange... When the A-pier will be extended this would mean a considerable detour around the entire A-pier for jets parked at the south-side of the A-pier to go to the runway...

[Conti764]

Just what is the advantage of such a surface level link between the terminal and Pier A, if I may ask?
The distance isn't really going to get any shorter with it.
Sure, you'll save a couple of minutes as you won't need to take the escalators up and down any longer, but to close off a taxiway for it... Don't know if it should be such a big priority really.

And with Diabolo, they have done a lot of efforts to keep this taxiway open for service. If it isn't that important, they could have just opened up the entire area...

[Conti764]

I had heard that they might move the security check-point to the beginning of the tunnel and put shops in the tunnel to make it a more pleasant journey going to the A-pier.

Isn't the distance to the A-pier mainly an issue for connecting passengers from the B-pier (length + time) ? Because I always wondered why they didn't make a passport control in the middle and use transfer busses from A to B

From B to A isn't that far. You pass border control and walk through a corridor on the right side to the intermediate level of the escalators to the tunnel and from there on you follow the same route O&D passengers follow...

[Conti764]

If there will be a (faster) surface level link between the terminal and Pier A, nobody is gonna use the tunnel anymore, so what about the shops, etc that are located there? If the tunnel loses its function, it's a big waste of money, no?

There are no shops in the tunnel. The shops start at ground level. Only thing that will have to dissapear is the security check point.

[Stij]

I did not know :
" To reach Pier A it is necessary to descend to a wide connecting tunnel (...) which allows passengers to pass beneath the taxiway above. This taxiway is not really needed so the airport is to begin building a surface level connection shortly across it which will simplify the journey."
A very good idea indeed !

Strange... When the A-pier will be extended this would mean a considerable detour around the entire A-pier for jets parked at the south-side of the A-pier to go to the runway...

Unless they build something like in Gatwick: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... _74055.jpg

And, how about this: use the tunnel for non-schengen pax and the connector/brdge for schengen pax?

Cheers,

Stij

[Conti764]

Unless they biuld something like in Gatwick: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... _74055.jpg

This would take away the advantage of skipping the tunnel, since it would imply taking escalators up in stead of down like it is now...

[Stij]

It depends, now you have to go 3 levels down, 2 up, maybe them it's just 1 up or something. Or, you could go slightly up the first 80m, tehn 160m level and then slightly down the last 80m, than way, can go up and down withoit loosing time. An A380 is 24.5m high, so 25m does the trick.

Cheers,

Stij

[SN_fan]

I had heard that they might move the security check-point to the beginning of the tunnel and put shops in the tunnel to make it a more pleasant journey going to the A-pier.

Isn't the distance to the A-pier mainly an issue for connecting passengers from the B-pier (length + time) ? Because I always wondered why they didn't make a passport control in the middle and use transfer busses from A to B

From B to A isn't that far. You pass border control and walk through a corridor on the right side to the intermediate level of the escalators to the tunnel and from there on you follow the same route O&D passengers follow...

Not if you arrive at the beginning of the pier, but for those arriving at the second part, a transfer bus would be a good service.

[regi]

If there will be a (faster) surface level link between the terminal and Pier A, nobody is gonna use the tunnel anymore, so what about the shops, etc that are located there? If the tunnel loses its function, it's a big waste of money, no?

I have some ideas , but I have trouble to put it in 1 sentence, including the words

• immigration
  police
  127tris
  shelter
  visum

Any help is welcome.