Brussels Airport said Saturday an examination of the main building housing the departure hall wrecked by two suicide bombers shows the structure is stable and it will now see if temporary check-in desks can be installed.
Blown out windows are pictured at the Brussels Airport in Brussels,
Belgium on Mar 25, 2016, after terrorist attacks. (Photo: AFP/Andrew
Harnik)
BRUSSELS: Brussels Airport said on Saturday (Mar 26) an
examination of the main building housing the departure hall wrecked by
two suicide bombers showed the structure is stable and it will now see
if temporary check-in desks can be installed.
In a separate earlier statement, Brussels Airport said it
did not expect to be able to reopen before Tuesday, with a partial
resumption of passenger services, as it repaired the damage and put in
place new security measures.
"A team of engineers, technicians and independent external
experts have carried out a first analysis of the damage caused by the
explosions (Tuesday) ... after detectives released the terminal
yesterday afternoon when they had concluded their investigations," it
said in a statement.
"This first, provisional analysis shows that both the main
building and the connector building where hand luggage and passengers
are checked, are stable. Brussels Airport will now investigate the
possibilities to install temporary check-in desks."
Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in the departure
hall, wrecking the concourse, and shortly afterwards another bomber hit
the Brussels metro, leaving 31 dead in all and more than 300 wounded in
Belgium's worst ever terror attack.
In Saturday's earlier statement, Brussels Airport gave no
detail of what the new security measures would involve but immediately
after Tuesday's attacks, there was a lot of criticism, especially of the
fact that there were no systematic checks on passengers entering the
departure hall.
The Easter weekend is normally one of the busiest of the
year, with thousands of holidaymakers jetting off from Brussels to
destinations worldwide.
Following the attacks, airlines moved operations to regional
airports or even to neighbouring countries such as the Netherlands and
Germany.
Low-cost pioneer Ryanair moved its Brussels flights to its
main base at Charleroi airport, about an hour's drive south of the
Belgian capital.
- AFP/ec
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