Brussels Zaventem Airport

Clean easy to access at low price from city centre by train. Confusing in the check-in zone but once you pass security fantastic shopping plenty of space to sit good indications and long distances so enough time is needed to join the flights to Africa.

BOM-BRU-CDG. Transit through BRU on Jet Airways. Landed at 0750 at concourse B with onward flight to CDG at 0940 from concourse A. After a long walk through concourse B reached passport control. 4 counters operating for non EU citizens with more than 200 people in line. Took an agonizing 1 hour and 10 min to clear. Again a long walk to reach concourse A. Security check took another 10 min. Had to rush to my gate to avoid missing the flight and reached just 2 minutes before scheduled departure time. No clear or enough directions to reach the gates. I guess the airlines are used to it and they waited for an additional 15-20 minutes for passengers who were stuck in the BRU maze. Please avoid transiting through BRU if you can or allow at least 3 hours to transit.

Access to and from the airport is easy by car or rail. If you arrive too early for check in there is no seating so either be prepared to stand or come a bit later. Security checks can be tiring - depending of course on how many people are waiting in line. Was not required to take off shoes since they have a new machine that you simply stand on. I was however required to take off my belt and every once in about three times I used this airport was body searched as well. Once you go through all the hassle it gets more calm there is usually enough seating and the waiting is OK. All in all a clean and efficient airport. The only really bother: you may have a very long walk from arrival gate to passport control since the terminal is a long corridor. If you're lucky you will land closer to the terminal.

I used to like travelling through Brussels Airport : not anymore ! The few last month the airport experience has turned from pleasant to very anoying due to the lack of staff . Lack of staff at check in with Brussels airlines : the airline is trying to force everybody to check on line and the result is long queues at the airport. Lack of staff at boarding pass control : another line before getting to the terminal. Lack of staff at security where now you have to take off shoes every time with rude and bored staff and queues getting longer each month. Altogether a very bad experience and no time left to spend some time and money in the shops.

Cool modern design and lots of space to sit. I arrived in BRU too early and thus had a long wait for my flight and found you have to pay for the wireless internet. No entertainment thus. The free charging stations for your laptop/cell phone were useful though. Toilets clean (despite someone had been smoking in there). What I really found annoying was the journey to the luggage claim up and down escalators and long corridors. I also didn't realize the exit was in the middle of the luggage claim area and not in the end and thus wandered around looking a bit lost. There was also no mailbox after the security check - I forgot to mail my postcards before going in. The maps claimed there should've been one but I really couldn't find it. Rail connection to Brussels ok railway station sterile and boring.

Good airport I have used it a few times nice and clean. Never really had the chance to check duty free though. But be prepared to walk and I mean really walk 3 floors down and then under the park bays (?) and 3 floors up. The designer should have been a health freak.. the last thing I want when rushing to meetings is a 20 minute jog to exit an airport!

Terminal A is a dreadful place where one can easily got lost. When arriving there's an endless walk to the exit with escalators up and down and miles of moving walkways with few and confusing signs in this shopping of an airport. Finding the train station is quite a challenge too. The automatic tickets vending machines only accept Belgium cards. On the positive side it's a clean place full of natural light but designed by someone who never use airports!

Nice airport but they do love their escalators don't they? There is one after another to go anywhere. It is almost comical. I had heard about this but seeing it in person made me laugh. Grab a piece of chocolate to keep your energy up!

Terminal A for Schengen flights is quite comfortable with much natural daylight and plenty of seating areas. But it is quite a long walk to the baggage claim area using numerous escalators. Catering is good and reasonably priced. Trains to downtown Brussels run every 20min and are cheap. Please note that the ticket vending machines accept Euro coins only and no credit cards. Signals in the check-in halls could be improved as it is rather difficult to locate the right counter.

Very long queues for security tonight in zone B in Brussels. At least a 400m queue to reach the scanners it started just after the passport check desks and it was slow moving. This did not seem to have any obvious cause. With the mega long walks you can have here a good reason to be prudent.