Despite border-control headwinds, Brussels Airport is preparing for its busiest Easter holiday ever, forecasting more than 1.25 million passengers between 3 and 19 April—a five-percent jump on 2025. Peak days on 6 and 13 April could see 80 000 travellers, the airport said in a 1 April briefing. Sun destinations dominate the booking charts, with additional capacity to Spain, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Morocco. Leisure carriers have laid on extra flights to Moroccan and Spanish resort cities, while Brussels Airlines has launched a new route to Asturias. Retailers in the terminal expect to sell 850 tonnes of Belgian chocolate over the two-week period, and the airport will deploy Easter-themed staff handing out confectionery to ease the festive rush. Operationally, the surge will test recently overhauled security lanes and a new digital way-finding app, but the greatest concern remains passport control. Airport authorities are advising passengers to arrive at least two hours before Schengen departures and three hours for long-haul. Additional customer-service agents will be stationed landside to triage queues and direct travellers to lesser-used checkpoints. For corporate travel managers, the spike means tighter availability of last-minute seats and hotel rooms around the EU capital. Companies are being advised to secure flexible fares, pre-book airport parking or rail connectors, and remind staff of ‘carry-on-only’ policies to shorten dwell time at check-in. If successfully managed, the record volumes will provide a welcome revenue boost to the airport and airlines still recovering from pandemic shocks, but any repeat of recent disruption could overshadow the milestone and intensify calls for a broader rethink of Schengen border procedures.
Source: Aviation24.be
