Brussels Airport

Brussels Airport
BRUEBBR

Brussels Airport

Zaventem, Belgium · Europe
Europe Europe/Brussels IVCA 52.4
179direct destinations
69airlines
3runways
3,638 mLongest runway
1940opened

Brussels Airport (IATA: BRU, ICAO: EBBR) is the main international airport of Belgium. It is located in the municipality of Zaventem in Flemish Brabant, 12 km (7 miles) northeast of Brussels. Also informally known as Brussels-National Airport or Brussels-Zaventem Airport, Brussels Airport handled more than 26 million passengers in 2019, making it the 26th-busiest airport in Europe. It is home to around 260 companies, together directly employing 20,000 people and serves as the home base for Brussels Airlines and TUI fly Belgium. The airport covers 1,245 hectares (3,076 acres) and contains three runways. On 22 March 2016, the airport's departures hall was severely damaged by two terrorist bomb blasts. The airport was closed until 3 April 2016, when it was reopened with temporary facilities at less than 20% of its previous capacity. It has since returned to full operations, with a record of 90,000 passengers on 29 July 2016. The airport is owned primarily by the Flemish and Belgian government, who own 39% and 25% respectively.

Location

Mapa

50.901°N, 4.484°E · 53 m s. n. m. (175 ft)

General data

CountryBelgium
CityZaventem
Coordinates50.901°N, 4.484°E
Elevation53 m s. n. m. (175 ft)
Time zoneEurope/Brussels
Longest runway3,638 m
OperatorBrussels Airport Company
Opened1940
Direct destinations179

Runways · 3

07L/25R
Length3,638 m11,936 ft
Width45 m148 ft
SurfaceAsphalt
Lighted✓
07R/25L
Length3,211 m10,535 ft
Width45 m148 ft
SurfaceAsphalt
Lighted✓
01/19
Length2,987 m9,800 ft
Width50 m164 ft
SurfaceAsphalt
Lighted✓

Lengths and surfaces from the public OurAirports register; open runways only.

Radio frequencies · 10

Tower

118.605TWR (RWY 07R/25L and 01)120.780TWR (RWY 07L/25R or 19)

Ground

118.055GND North121.880GND South

Clearance delivery

121.950CLNC DEL

ATIS (automatic information)

121.755ATIS DEP132.475ATIS ARR

Approach

118.255

Departure

126.630

UNICOM

130.550ABELAG UNICOM
Look for a live feed on LiveATC External site; not every airport has a feed.

Reference frequencies for enthusiasts, from OurAirports (community database, public domain), checked on Oct 16, 2026. They may be outdated or incomplete and do not replace the AIP or current charts: not for navigation. In Europe the published frequency may be an 8.33 kHz channel (e.g., 118.505 for 118.500). In MHz.

History

In 1956, a new 2,300 m (7,500 ft) runway was constructed, 07R/25L, which almost runs parallel with 07L/25R. The runway is still in use today and saw its length later increased to 3,200 m (10,500 ft). In April 1956, the Belgian government decided to build a new airport, using the same runways, but with the buildings located within the municipality of Zaventem. In April 1957, construction started of the new terminal, preparing the airport for the 1958 World's Fair (Expo 58). The grass runway 12/30 had to make way to allow for the new passenger terminal. This new airport was inaugurated on 5 July 1958, just in time for the 1958 World’s Fair. The buildings on the Melsbroek side are still in use by the Belgian Air Force (15th Air Transport Wing), and this is still known as Melsbroek Airfield. Both Zaventem Airport and Melsbroek Air Base, the military airfield, share the same runways. During the boom of commercial aviation in the 1960s and 1970s, several hangars were constructed. A new cargo terminal was constructed in 1976. In 1994, a brand new terminal was constructed adjacent to the old 1958 building. Two old piers were torn down and replaced by modern ones. In 2002, amidst the turmoil surrounding the demise of the national airline Sabena, a new pier was opened. In 2005, the airport was awarded Best Airport in Europe by Airports Council International / International Air Transport Association (ACI/IATA), based on a survey of over 100,000 passengers worldwide. Brussels Airport continued to appear in top airports lists as of 2012. A direct train link with Leuven and Liège was opened on 12 December 2005. In 2007, the airport served 17.8 million passengers, an increase of 7% over 2006. The cargo volume in the same year amounted to 780,000 tonnes, an increase of 8.9% over 2006. In 2008, the airport served 18.5 million passengers, which was an increase of 3.7% over the previous year. Sabena's demise meant a sharp fall in passenger traffic, a blow from which the airport only slowly recovered. The airport's future is threatened by disagreement between the governments of Flanders and the Brussels Capital Region concerning night-time air traffic routes. In March 2009, the old mechanical Flight information display systems were replaced by electronic ones. In September 2009, CEO Wilfried Van Assche resigned. One of the (unofficial) reasons was the delay in the construction of the low-cost terminal and the possible lawsuit by 52 airlines active at Brussels Airport, on the grounds of tax discrimination. It was Van Assche who started expanding the Long-Haul network (Jet Airways, Hainan Airlines, Etihad Airways and US Airways) at Brussels Airport. In February 2010 Arnaud Feist was appointed CEO. The Chairman of the Board is Marc Descheemaecker. On 18 February 2013, in the 2013 Belgium diamond heist, eight men armed with automatic weapons and dressed in police uniforms seized 120 small parcels containing an estimated US$50 million worth of diamonds from a Helvetic Airways Fokker 100 passenger plane loaded with passengers preparing for departure to Zürich. The men drove two vehicles through a hole they had cut in the airport perimeter fence to Flight LX789, which had just been loaded with diamonds from a Brink's armored van from Antwerp. They carried out the operation within five minutes with no injuries and without firing a shot. On 22 March 2016, two explosions took place in Brussels Airport at 07:58 local time. One occurred near the American Airlines and Brussels Airlines check-in desks and the other next to a Starbucks coffee shop. A third bomb was found in the airport and detonated in a controlled explosion. The airport was closed after the attacks until 3 April, when it reopened with temporary facilities at less than 20% of its previous passenger capacity. Flights bound to Brussels Airport were either cancelled or diverted to nearby airports such as Brussels South Charleroi Airport, Ostend–Bruges International Airport, and Schiphol.

Photo: Lucash · CC BY-SA 3.0 · view original

Data from OurAirports (public domain) · destinations and airlines from Wikipedia route tables (CC BY-SA, 2026), unless another source is given · profile and photo from Wikidata/Wikimedia Commons (CC0 / CC) · summary and history from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

Cite

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This page was last updated on October 15, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 15). Brussels Airport (BRU). Retrieved October 18, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/BRU

MLA

“Brussels Airport (BRU).” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 15 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/airport/BRU. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “Brussels Airport (BRU).” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 15, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/BRU.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) Brussels Airport (BRU). Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/BRU (Accessed: 18 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_airport_bru,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{Brussels Airport (BRU)}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-15},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/BRU},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/BRU}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-18},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-18}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/airport/BRU |title=Brussels Airport (BRU) |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-15 |access-date=2026-10-18 |language=en}}