Brussels Zaventem Airport

I will avoid this airport like the plague in the future. They are woefully understaffed in both immigration and customs, and the ongoing construction makes everything worse.

Airport is currently under reconstruction and development (August 2015) and it is quite a challange for families to get around because of all the stairs. If you have small children you will need some help from staff. Departure area has a children's playground on the right side of the terminal building (the signs are not very visible - one little horse on the map of the airport, so you can just assume it is a playground). Acces to terminal A is renewed alredy and the access to security gates is very friendly. If you are in transit, wear the running shoes. The terminal buildings are very long. We used the Diamond lounge and it is very basic, but you can get cold and hot refreshements.

This is an incredibly confusing airport. Check in was fine but the passage to the gates winds through poorly marked duty free stores. Security was also good but by the third time you have to ask yourself "where to now?" the frustration has built. If I had been in a hurry I would have become furious.

Zaventem my home airport. Lots of nostalgic childhood memories because of the Sabena frequent flyer status of my father. Nowadays very nice check in lounge lots of good food drinking options Zaventem was and is Belgium's number one airport. The luggage pick up is still too slow. Smoking lounges too overcrowded and too small. But despite this few minor negative points Zaventem is a good organised clean airport its still the number one hub in Europe.

Brussels to Zurich - The first impression was a disorderly airport and long queues. Not a very appealing interior ill-planned layout of the airport makes you go up and down several times. Not many things to look for while waiting for the flight. This airport is clearly not at par with other European standard airports.

I flew from BRU on a transatlantic flight to New York. I arrived well in time but the Airport security had a 2 hour waiting line at the passport check. This meant that I almost missed my flight which was extremely frustrating. I cannot comprehend why this Airport is so incompetent in one of its main duties. I recommend flying out of AMS or DUS.

I've read some of the critical reviews on this site and while Brussels airport is not the best airport I know I believe things have got better lately. The frequency of trains to and from the airport has increased some trains are still the old shuttle trains from Brussels but others are the very reasonable longer distance trains running through Belgium. The roadworks close to the airport are over. But more roadworks could be planned. The departure hall can be crowded but some low cost flights are now handled in a separate extension of the departure hall making room in the rest of the airport. The Schengen gates used to be accessible via a long underground tunnel with lots of escalators. These have gone now: there is a new 'connector' building that is much more pleasant to go to the A gates. The new shops toilets restaurants in the A gates area look nice some restaurants still close relatively early. The non-Schengen gates are less bright but the new connector building now also improves the transfer from A to C gates and vice-versa. On my last visit to the airport my luggage was on the luggage retrieval belt before I got there so zero wait. The arrival hall is still the low-ceiling area it used to be quite unwelcoming.

1) Please stop continuously changing gates! On our most recent trip it was changed an unbelievable 5 times! 2) Invest in an adequate loudspeaker system. 3) The acoustic is from the dark ages. 4) Various areas are not covered by working loudspeakers. 5) Train the announcers to articulate to slow down. 6) Employ people with excellent foreign language skills or native speakers. 7) Install more info counters. 8) Learn from "top" airports.

As long as I live I will never get a connecting flight from this airport again nightmare of a journey from Gates A to B if your on a tight connecting flight expect to be running around. Expect very poor signage and awful attitude from airport staff and officials.

I am a regular visitor of Zaventem Airport unfortunately because it is one of the worst airports in Europe. Traffic to the airport is a nightmare. Narrow and always blocked by never ending roadworks. Trains to the airport are dirty and at least 40 year old wrecks and you pay an horrendous price. Ticket area for trains is small dirty and always full with people queuing for the one single open sales point. (Machines do not accept foreign cards or credit cards.) Luggage delivery takes an average of 1.5 hours (yes 1.5 hours) almost a world record. Waiting time for the passport control can be up to 2 hours. The non-Schengen shopping area is almost non-existent. -Cleanliness and overall the state of maintenance is very poor. My advise go to Paris CDG. From there 1h 12m TGV to Brussels. That's much quicker as fighting yourself trough the Zaventem chaos.