Arriving at Brussels Airport: finding your driver
The plane has landed: between the aircraft door and the car door, there are still a few steps to go. Knowing them saves you most of the waiting and needless phone calls.
The first minutes: before you even leave the plane
As soon as the crew allows it, switch your phone back on. The Brussels Airport app tracks your flight in real time; take the opportunity to message the driver, whose contact details you received before landing. A simple message such as 'landed, out soon' lets them be there at the right moment, in step with your actual progress rather than the timetable on the screens.
Depending on where the aircraft is parked, you reach the terminal via an air bridge or by bus, then follow the signs to baggage reclaim. If your flight comes from a Schengen country, there is no passport control: you head straight for the carousels. Otherwise, border control comes before the baggage reclaim hall, and this is often what decides how long it takes you to get out.
- As soon as you land, a message to the driver lets them time their arrival to when you actually come out.
- From outside Schengen, passport control comes before baggage reclaim; the e-gates accept biometric European passports and the Belgian eID from the age of 12.
- A missing bag must be reported at the baggage desk, before you leave the reclaim hall.
- Arriving from outside the European Union: green channel if you have nothing to declare, red if you exceed the allowances or carry €10,000 or more in cash.
- For departures, aim to arrive two hours ahead for a European flight and three for a long-haul one, as the airport recommends.
Border control and the EES
From the age of 12, travellers with a biometric European passport or a Belgian electronic identity card can use the automatic gates, or e-gates, which are often quicker than the desks. Other nationals go to the desks staffed by the border police. For non-European travellers, the European Entry/Exit System (EES) records each crossing electronically and replaces passport stamps.
On a first entry for a short stay, meaning up to 90 days in any 180-day period, non-European travellers have their passport scanned, their face photographed and their fingerprints taken; children under 12 are exempt from fingerprinting. Registration takes place at the desk or, where they are in operation, at pre-registration kiosks. It is not repeated on every trip: the record is simply updated. Holders of a residence permit or a long-stay visa are not affected.
Baggage, missing suitcases and customs
In the reclaim hall, screens show which carousel has been allocated to your flight. If your suitcase does not appear, whatever you do, do not leave: the report is made in the hall itself, at the baggage desk of the handling agent working for your airline. Keep your boarding pass and baggage tag to hand. A message to the driver lets them know it will take you a little longer to come out.
For a flight from a country outside the European Union, customs come next. Take the green channel if you have nothing to declare, and the red channel if you exceed the allowances or are carrying €10,000 or more in cash. These allowances cover limited quantities of alcohol and tobacco, and a total value for other purchases. Checks may be carried out at any time, whichever channel you choose.
Meeting your driver at the exit
Once through the last doors, you come out into the arrivals hall, where the driver is looking out for you, holding a sign with your name on it. There is no need to warn them if your flight is delayed: they work to the actual landing time, not the one on your ticket. If you do not see them straight away, do not go looking for them all over the terminal: stay near the exit and call them on the number you received before your trip, or send them a message.
To avoid any confusion, the airport recommends agreeing on an easy-to-find meeting point in advance, such as the information desk. The driver then takes charge of your luggage and walks you to the car, parked in a car park close to the terminal. If you are travelling with children, the seats requested when booking are already fitted: at Atemia, you can request an infant carrier (Maxi-Cosi), a child seat or a booster seat.
Departures: drop-off and recommended timing
For a departure, the car stops in the Drop-off zone, less than five minutes' walk from the terminal. Stops there are brief by design: according to the airport, they are free for up to ten minutes, once an hour; the driver must stay near the vehicle and parking is not allowed. The driver takes the suitcases out of the boot while you gather your passports and boarding passes; all that remains is to walk to the departures hall and the check-in desks.
Brussels Airport recommends arriving two hours before a European flight and three hours before an intercontinental one. Add the drive on top: from the Grand-Place, fourteen kilometres that take about twenty minutes at night, but considerably longer when the Ring is busy. Non-European travellers leaving the Schengen area also go through the EES on exit; unless instructed otherwise, the airport does not ask them to arrive any earlier because of it.
Arriving at Brussels Airport
My flight is two hours late: do I need to tell the driver?+
It is not essential: the flight is tracked live, and the pick-up time follows the actual landing time. A message is still useful for anything that flight tracking cannot see: a long queue at passport control, a missing suitcase, a child who needs changing. In the event of a diversion or cancellation, contact the team to arrange an alternative.
I travel on a non-European passport: what difference does the EES make on arrival?+
On your first short stay since the system came into operation, your passport is scanned, your face photographed and your fingerprints taken; children under 12 are not fingerprinted. Refusing to provide this data means being refused entry. On subsequent trips, the record is simply updated. As queues can build up at busy times, let the driver know once you are through.
My suitcase has not arrived: can I leave the baggage hall?+
Not before reporting it missing. Go to the baggage desk in the reclaim hall with your boarding pass and baggage tag: the report is made there with your airline's handling agent. You will then be told what happens next, including how the suitcase will be returned to you once it has been found. In the meantime, a message to the driver will save them from worrying.
Where is the drop-off point for departures at Brussels Airport?+
In the Drop-off zone, signposted as you approach the terminal and designed for brief stops: passengers and luggage are dropped off there, but no parking is allowed. The driver takes out the suitcases and you reach the departures hall in a few minutes on foot. To work out when to leave home, add the expected traffic on the Ring to the margin recommended by the airport.
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