Brussels Charleroi Airport review by Matthew Ross

2 July 2008   Customer Rating :

The new terminal is a vast improvement on the old one - more spacious and much better facilities. The"Paul sandwich shop is good. Some attention to detail is required - for example the soap dispensers in the toilets needed refilling, priority boarding on Ryanair was a farce. The airport location (at Charleroi) is its biggest drawback - a long way from Brussels. The airport bus is reliable but unpleasant. I have used it several times; the buses are getting rather dirty inside. A good clean of the upholstery is needed. Signposting to the airport bus at Brussels Midi station is still hopeless - unless you know that it departs from the Rue de France you could spend ages trying to find it.

Brussels Charleroi Airport review by Matthias Ruebben

25 March 2008   Customer Rating :

The online check-in worked very well at Charleroi (the did not work at Shannon Airport on the way back). We had to wait nearly one hour at the customs when we arrived back from Shannon. I never waited at the customs for more than 10 minutes at any airport. They charged me 42,60 EURO for 3 days parking. Before I knew these things, I booked another flight in July from Charleroi. The car would park there for 2 weeks.

Brussels Charleroi Airport review by G Gramazio

10 March 2008   Customer Rating :

I arrived and departed from CRL new terminal in the last 2 weeks. It's quite clean and modern, and friendly. The staff spoke at least a basic English, or even Italian (there are many Italian immigrants in that area). Ordinary busses available to reach Bruxelles, the cost is €8 for a no- return ticket, and takes 1hr to get to the Bruxelles Midi railway station. Fast baggage delivery. On the coming back, fast check-in and self check-in terminals are available, just select your flight and enter your booking code. Clear audio message in English, French and Flemish. In the public area you can find a chemist, a bar-restaurant and a cafe where they sell sandwiches and sweets, plus a very good press shop. The boarding area is quite small, there is a big duty free shop selling usual things you can find there, but also a good selection of chocolate. Unfortunately the prices are a bit higher than in other places. Also available is a small restaurant. Drinks do cost much, more than in Rome: €3.00 for a 0.5l bottle of Coke! Definitely a positive experience being a new airport.

Brussels Charleroi Airport review by M Stanford-Eyre

29 January 2008   Customer Rating :

I hope the new terminal has better facilities. I found the airport people fine and the Ryanair automatic checkin worked perfectly. The only point I would warn people about was that, because it is such a small airport, the check in really did close 40 minutes before departure and our 10.40pm scheduled flight was rolled out and airborne by 10.10m ! Not many passengers on it but a great leveller of Ryanair statistics! Don't be late here! Priority boarding a total farce though.

Brussels Charleroi Airport review by Alex Murzynski

14 July 2006   Customer Rating : n/a

CRL has finally had a cash machine installed, an event proudly announced on its website as if it were a very special privilege granted to the passengers. Beware of the said website because it is hardly ever updated and the info on the shuttle bus service to Brussels is misleading. You CANNOT buy your ticket on the bus in spite of what it says and the place is full of disgruntled passengers hauling their gear back into the airport to buy a ticket. Amazingly, this has been going on for at least a year and will continue to do so because this airport clearly follows a strict policy of ignoring all complaints and e-mails. Still, the coach is the least bad way of getting to Brussels as the local bus and train schedules are hopelessly mismatched. Another major pain at this airport is the lack of seating and practically nothing to do landside, and absolutely nothing to do airside. Boarding is invariably annoying as the hapless staff makes no attempt to control the free-for-all. All you can hope for is that things will change with the new terminal due to open "in 2007". Until then, bring something to read and to eat and prepare to have your patience tested.

Brussels Charleroi Airport review by James Gibson

11 July 2006

I agree with most of the comments made about this airport. The catering is basic and not very appetising and the terminal building doesn't look too nice and it really lacks a cash machine. The last time I flew into Charleroi it was a Sunday - the journey took me five hours and it's only 100 miles! I had to wait an hour for the bus to Charleroi train station. As the bus pulled in the train to Brussels pulled out and I had to wait another hour. At Brussels I had to wait about 50 minutes! I think the transport authorities in Belgium need to get their act together. I wonder if things will be much different when the new terminal building opens next year.

Brussels Charleroi Airport review by John Kotsopoulos

14 February 2006

Granted, you're flying a discount airline out of this airport and therefore should not be expecting much. Still, this airport is woeful. Inexplicably, there is not a single automatic bank machine in the entire building. Clearly the authorities have no interest in you spending any money there. The smoke-infested cafeteria will not even accept local Belgian bank cards. They will, however, accept VISA on any purchase over 15euros! Thanks a lot! I boarded my flight starving and thirsty and feeling like a fool for not having packed a picnic before leaving home.

Brussels Charleroi Airport review by Matthew Ross

23 May 2005

Functional, but very basic and cramped. Ryanair and Wizz are the main carriers, so the cheap n' cheerful image is perpetuated in the airport's facilities - or lack thereof. The bus link from Brussels departs from rue de France (round the back of the Gare du Midi) - this can be difficult to find if you're unfamiliar with the city and can be pretty crowded. There is also a bus to Charleroi railway station. The security check is very strict; anything metal has to be removed, especially belts. The catering facilities are poor - before security there's one rather scruffy, smoky cafe plus a few vending machines. It is not at all convenient for Brussels, in fact it's about halfway between Brussels and the French border. All-in-all, the poor relation to Brussels Airport.

Brussels Charleroi Airport review by Alberto Pezzotti

15 February 2005

This is a tiny airport. Disembarking is really fast. Once you're in the main area ther is not much you can do. I spent a good hour in the really basic cafeteria waiting for somebody that was going to pick me up. In conclusion it's a really good option if you have to visit the region of Lille/Calais or the south of Belgium. It's clearly not a good option if you want to visit Brussels.

Brussels Charleroi Airport review by John Emley

21 August 2004

The airport is certainly tiny! Arriving there was good, off the plane quick, straight onto a connecting bus to Brussels. Staff at the information stand were helpful & spoke English. The outbound journey wasn't as pleasant, security was over zealous (having to remove belt, watch etc) and very unfriendly. Didn't bother using the 'canteen' in the cupboard (departure lounge 1) and there was a big crush fighting fellow passengers to get on the aircraft. The toilets in the lounge were filthy, stinking & graffitid. Having said that, for a flight that cost about the same as a pizza it's worth putting up with and I'd use it again.

Brussels Charleroi Airport review by Simon Summers

9 June 2004

This airport is like a disused IKEA store cum warehouse. It is tiny and cramped, the cafeteria "Sharkeys" is lousy, expensive and smoky. Passing through the "drastic" security measures (which they state on their website) means removing EVERY piece of metal - belts, watches et al. The "other side" is like hell. You're straight at the gate - no facilities, where you sweat it, gathering your energies to barge past your fellow passengers and run on to your plane.

Brussels Charleroi Airport review by David Flynn

23 April 2004

Small airports are generally intimate, friendly and welcoming. Not so with Charleroi. It is dirty, seriously overcrowded at peak times and facilities are terrible. Ryanair does a good job of running a base on these facilities mind. Links to Brussels are good, but that's really thanks to Ryanair themselves. Food is terrible, and waiting areas are not so conducive to extended stays (extended being anything more than 15 minutes)

Brussels Charleroi Airport review by Neil Harvey

12 February 2004

Waited an hour in a corridor for baggage, but ours was the only arrival in 3 hours. Waited 45 mins for the bus driver to let people on, then he went off for a 30 min fag break, which meant we missed the connecting train to Brussels, we could have walked quicker to town centre. Return journey was even worse with one room which combined a corner shop style duty free, school canteen snack bar, non segregated smoking area which led to a single stinking toilet. It was a relief when the exits opened and we all made a charge for our non pre-allocated seats. Cheap but not cheerful, next time I will pay the extra and fly direct from Manchester to Brussels Zaventem.

Brussels Charleroi Airport review by G Kurtovic

28 January 2004

Nothing bad about small airports, but this one is the most unfriendly I have ever visited.

Brussels Charleroi Airport review by Stephen D'Arcy

16 September 2003

The previous comment is so off the mark it must have been written by one of the "anti-Ryanair" squad. Getting to / from the airport: an executive coach leaves Brussels south station (Gare du Midi) 2h. 30m. before each flight departure. As the average journey (± 60 km) takes one hour, the bus arrives 90 minutes before the flight departs - in other words 60 minutes before check-in closes. The bus parks ± 50 metres from the departures door. For the return journey: buses leave the airport 20 mins or so after the flight arrivals, back to Brussels Gare du Midi. At weekends, I have done this journey in 40 minutes. Cost: €10.00 single, payable to the driver. This includes an arbitrary €3.60 tax imposed by the Chairleroi Airport, which is the subject of a legal action by Ryanair, who charter the buses. Train / bus connections are not so good. I have written twice to TEC (Charleroi), asking why, at weekends, their "connectional" bus #68 from the airport arrives at Charleroi Railway station three minutes AFTER the hourly trains depart to Brussels. No intellgible answer was forthcoming - but they are Francophones and don't ever take criticism - just offer a "Gallic shrug". A "joined-up public transport service"  - NOT! Parking is plentiful and cheap, with free shuttle buses to/from the terminal every 10 minutes. The cafe resembles a motorway service station in UK, but food and drink are comparatively cheap for the standard offered. Best to stock up here before your 60-90 minute flight so that you don't die of starvation, or pay €9.00 on-board for a sandwich. This can be more than the cost of the flight! From the terminal, passengers walk to the plane across the tarmac, ± 100 metres. Boarding is fronty and rear, so very quick. In the new Schengen terminal in Brussels Zaventem airport, it can take up to 20 minutes to walk to the most remote departure gate! There are plans to expand Charleroi Airport with a second terminal in 2006, assuming that the European Commission's latest investigation hasn't scuppered the Ryanair operation by then. I have no connection with Charleroi Airport nor with Ryanair (the only flight operator).

Brussels Charleroi Airport review by James O'Brien

15 September 2003

The airport resulbles a shack. A very bad cafe and unfriendly staff across the whole airport. I will never use this airport again. It is a nightmare even trying to get to this excuse of an airport. My advice to anybody thinking of using this airport use Brussels National insteade.

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