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| Home > City Guide - Brussels - Getting There By Air | ||
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Getting There By Air Brussels Zaventem (BRU) Tel: (0900) 70000, for flight information. Fax: (02) 753 4250. Website: www.brusselsairport.be Brussels’ airport, operated by Brussels International Airport Company – BIAC (tel: (02) 753 4200), is situated 12km (eight miles) northeast of Brussels, offering flights to over 150 destinations worldwide. The number of passengers using the airport in 2001 peaked between July and September when over 20 million passengers passed through Brussels Airport. However, since September 11 and the subsequent bankruptcy of Sabena Airlines, the airport is suffering from fewer connections, particularly long haul. Major airlines: Sabena Airlines, Belgium’s flagship carrier, was a casualty of September 11 – its replacement is SN Brussels Airlines (tel: (02) 723 2323; website: www.brusselairlines.com), which has taken on most of the routes. Currently, the two largest Belgian-based airlines are SN Brussels Airlines and Virgin Express (tel. (02) 752 0511; website: www.virgin-express.com). SN Brussels Airlines serves 36 European destinations and from 26 April 2002, 11 African destinations, while Virgin Express operates flights to 15 destinations across Europe – new routes for 2002 include Lisbon and Athens. Other major airlines include Alitalia, American Airlines, British Airways, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and United Airlines. Airport facilities: These include post office and medical facilities, bank and bureaux de change, ATMs, bars, restaurants, shops, tourist information and car hire from Avis, Budget, Europcar and Hertz. Business facilities: The Skyport Corporate Meeting Centre (tel: (02) 714 0200; fax: (02) 714 0201) is located on the fourth-floor mezzanine level and offers eight small meeting rooms and secretarial services. Transport to the city: A new route (as of 1 July 2002), the Airport Line bus service, operated by MIVB/STIB (tel: (02) 515 2000; website: www.stib.irisnet.be), runs twice hourly (the service will be increased to three or four departures per hour as of 1 September 2002), 0457-2357. The cost of a journey into the city centre costs €3 (journey time – 40 minutes). The De Lijn bus (tel: (01) 631 3737) operates every 45 minutes to the city centre (journey time – 40 minutes). The STIB Airport City Express trains to the city (journey time – 15 minutes) depart every 15 minutes to Brussels’ three main stations – Gare Centrale, Gare du Nord and Gare du Midi. A first-class one-way ticket costs €3.70, while a second-class ticket costs €2.40. Services operate 0600-2400. Taxis to the centre cost about €30. Hotel courtesy coaches go to the Holiday Inn, Novotel and Sofitel. Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL) Tel: (07) 125 1211. Fax: (07) 125 1202 Website: www.charleroi-airport.com Brussels’ second and smaller airport is located 55km (37 miles) south of Brussels, in Charleroi – a one-hour drive from Lille, in the North of France. The privately owned airport, which belongs to the Walloon region and private investors, is an international airport for passenger and freight traffic, a test and training flight base for aeronautical industry and a centre for general and business aviation. The acknowledged training centre of all Belgian airlines, Belgian Flight School, is also based here. Ryanair serves London, Channon, Dublin, Glasgow, Venice, Carcassonne and, as from 27 June 2002, Rome and Liverpool. Major airlines: Ryanair (website: www.ryanair.com) operates most passenger flights to and from Charleroi Airport. Airport facilities: Facilities include bars, shops, lost property, a bank and duty-free shop. Car hire is available from Hertz. Avis (tel: (07) 132 3535) and All Top Rent a Car (tel: (07) 132 3334) are based in Charleroi and will deliver cars to the airport. Business facilities: There is a first class lounge available in the terminal. Transport to the city: The MIVB/STIB (tel: (02) 515 2000; website: www.stib.irisnet.be) bus no 68 runs from Charleroi Airport to the nearby Charleroi train station (journey time – 10 minutes) weekdays 0600-2330 (weekends 0620-2230). From there, a frequent SNCB (tel: (02) 528 2828; website: www.sncb.be) train service connects to Brussels’ main stations, 0500-2400 (journey time – 45 minutes). Tickets cost €10. The door-to-door Airport Transfer Service (tel: (04) 7342 9490; e-mail: cromexa@yahoo.fr; website: www.cromexa.be) costs between €10-25. Taxis also run to central Brussels, costing €85 (journey time – 40 minutes). Approximate flight times to Brussels: From London is 55 minutes; from New York is 10 hours; from Los Angeles is 16 hours; from Toronto is 7 hours 45 minutes and from Sydney is 27 hours. Arrival/departure tax: €12.89 departure tax and €6.20 transfer tax is charged at Brussels International Airport. |
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