Passenger flights could take off again from Brussels Airport on Friday for the first time since two deadly bomb attacks hit the check-in area on 22 March.
Despite widespread damage caused by the blasts, Zaventem is now ready to run a service at 20% of normal capacity, said the company who runs the airport in a statement.
The fire service and aviation authorities have given the airport the all-clear to partially reopen less than two weeks after attacks on the Belgian capital, which killed more than 30 people and injured hundreds at the airport and Maelbeek Metro station.
All that remains is for formal political approval to be given and passenger flights could restart as soon as Friday evening. A temporary check-in zone will allow 800 departing passengers an hour to pass through the airport as permanent structures are rebuilt.
But it would take ‘months’ before the airport is able to fully reopen, the airport CEO Arnaud Feist has said.
Passengers arriving in Belgium will be able to use existing arrivals and baggage reclaim facilities, which were not damaged in the attacks.
Two blasts ripped through the airport’s check-in area within seconds of each other on the morning of 22 March, and a third suitcase bomb was found unexploded in the airport. Two bombers died in the airport attack, which has been claimed by the so-called Islamic State.
Police are still searching for a man suspected to be the third airport bomber and have released video footage in an attempt to identify him.
