Tania, who contacted us via the orange “Alert Us” button, missed her flight to Lisbon. The traveler nevertheless went to Charleroi airport three hours in advance, as advised. Nathalie Pierard, the spokesperson, gives us best practices to avoid waiting too long.
This weekend, before the start of the holidays, is also the weekend of vacation departures. During these winter holidays, Charleroi airport will welcome no less than 450,000 passengers. And this very large crowd has been felt since this Thursday. “There are catastrophic queues at Charleroi airport. We are close to the risk of crowd movements“, testifies, via the orange “Alert us” button, a traveler.
I arrived three hours early and missed my flight
For Tania, this situation is all the more annoying. “I arrived three hours early and yet missed my flight to Lisbon. I am of Portuguese origin, and it has been more than 15 years since I last spent Christmas there!“, she tells us. “I arrived at the airport at 6 a.m., for a 9:35 a.m. flight. I went through security at 9:40 a.m.! Once I arrived at the doors, they were closed. I'm not the only one who missed it.“In total, Tania lost nearly 1,000 euros in return flights.”No one was there to help us, guide us…“
According to spokesperson Nathalie Pierard, you actually have to be patient to get to the security gates. “Check-ins and baggage check-ins are quite quick. But it is true that there are long lines up to the controls.“, she indicates. But Tania's situation is, in fact, abnormal according to the airport: “There is currently a shortage of company personnel who manage security controls and to absorb the flow, it was a bit complicated“, admits Nathalie Pierard, who specifies that some passengers missed their flight this Saturday.
What can Tania do?
Nathalie Pierard says she is, in any case, sorry about the situation described by Tania. “If the facts happened as she explains, it is regrettable, she says. We are well aware of the problem and are trying to find solutions“To cope with this peak in traffic, the airport has adapted.”As there are longer lines, we have adapted our operations, explains Nathalie Pierard. We closed our boarding gates later than usual: 5 minutes before the flight instead of 15“.
This solution causes delays on the various flights, but “the objective is that as many passengers as possible can have their flight“, explains Nathalie Pierard.
According to the spokesperson, possible compensation is possible, but this “depends from one airline to another“. Tania must therefore contact her company and explain her problem.
Good practices
Arriving at the airport is already the start of the vacation, and many want to board as quickly as possible. To achieve this, Nathalie Pierard advises arriving three hours in advance: “We think that, as Charleroi is a regional airport, we can arrive at the last minute. On the contrary, during busy periods, I advise arriving three hours in advance. In principle, this is enough“Also, his arrival at the airport is being prepared.”When possible, it is best to register online.“
Once in line, the Charleroi airport spokesperson recommends preparing your luggage carefully. “Prepare your liquids and electronic devices, such as computers, in advance“, she concludes.
Charleroi airport has set up an additional security service to manage the crowds, which sometimes become impatient.
holiday departures from Charleroi Brussels-South airport
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