At 03:00 on Sunday 26 October, Belgium turned its clocks back one hour, joining the rest of continental Europe in the bi-annual switch to winter time (Central European Time, UTC+1). The seemingly routine adjustment has wide-ranging operational knock-ons for airlines, rail operators and cross-border commuters.
The Royal Observatory of Belgium confirmed the legal change in a notice issued earlier this year, while the Federal Public Service Mobility circulated updated aeronautical information circulars (AICs) to ensure flight plans filed for the night of 25/26 October used the correct local time. Brussels Airlines alone re-timed 58 departures to avoid curfew infringements at noise-sensitive airports such as Frankfurt and Zurich.
On the rail side, infrastructure manager Infrabel implemented its standard “extra-hour” timetable: overnight trains were held at the nearest major station at 02:59 CEST and departed again one hour later, protecting staff work-hour limits. Eurostar services arriving from London were minimally affected, but Thalys and ICE trains leaving Brussels at dawn departed one hour earlier in real terms, creating confusion for some passengers who failed to adjust devices automatically.
While the European Commission voted in 2019 to abolish clock changes, the proposal remains stalled in Council, meaning mobility managers must continue to plan for the switch at least until 2026. Companies with posted workers or rotational shift patterns are reminded that Belgian labour law obliges employers to compensate hourly staff who work the “extra” hour created by the winter change.
For travellers, the practical advice is simple: double-check departure times and, where possible, enable automatic time updates on smartphones and laptops. Airport operators say missed-flight incidents typically rise by 3-4 % on the Sunday morning of the changeover, a statistic that has remained stubbornly constant for the past decade.
The Royal Observatory of Belgium confirmed the legal change in a notice issued earlier this year, while the Federal Public Service Mobility circulated updated aeronautical information circulars (AICs) to ensure flight plans filed for the night of 25/26 October used the correct local time. Brussels Airlines alone re-timed 58 departures to avoid curfew infringements at noise-sensitive airports such as Frankfurt and Zurich.
On the rail side, infrastructure manager Infrabel implemented its standard “extra-hour” timetable: overnight trains were held at the nearest major station at 02:59 CEST and departed again one hour later, protecting staff work-hour limits. Eurostar services arriving from London were minimally affected, but Thalys and ICE trains leaving Brussels at dawn departed one hour earlier in real terms, creating confusion for some passengers who failed to adjust devices automatically.
While the European Commission voted in 2019 to abolish clock changes, the proposal remains stalled in Council, meaning mobility managers must continue to plan for the switch at least until 2026. Companies with posted workers or rotational shift patterns are reminded that Belgian labour law obliges employers to compensate hourly staff who work the “extra” hour created by the winter change.
For travellers, the practical advice is simple: double-check departure times and, where possible, enable automatic time updates on smartphones and laptops. Airport operators say missed-flight incidents typically rise by 3-4 % on the Sunday morning of the changeover, a statistic that has remained stubbornly constant for the past decade.
