Brussels Charleroi Airport

Charleroi is one of two airports serving the city of Brussels but Charleroi is quite some distance from Brussels. Charleroi is popular because the rock-bottom price discount airlines that fly to Brussels are based here rather than Brussels Zaventem. Be warned the security lines at Charleroi do take quite some time to clear around 30 minutes compared to perhaps half that time at Brussels Zaventem. Decent choice of food air side though pricey. Toilets were slightly cramped. Bus service to Charleroi-Sud train station will take you where you can catch a train to Brussels (takes about 1 hour by train). There is also the Ryanair coach if you prefer that. Some hotels in Charleroi provide a shuttle taxi to/from the airport.

Excellent airport: very efficient clean friendly people no queues for check-in or customs. Excellent parking with reasonable rates. However limited restaurants railway connection is not good (compared to Brussels) with a limited number of flights.

In a line for 20 minutes to show passport and boarding pass. Asked to leave the line to put my iPad in my carry on case. Rejoined the line and passed through to security and the usual snake. 20 minutes on and still 9 people in front of me. They opened up 2 more lanes and let all the people behind me through. Complained and told all lines were the same. Removed belt watch and jacket and placed in tray. Told to take iPad back out of carry on. Passed through scanner in socks slacks and shirt. Set off alarm and told to stand for body touchdown. Then given the most obtrusive pat down in 30 years. Thought I would have a nice lunch before boarding on a par with McDonald's on a bad day and twice the price. All this before the usual delights of Ryanair.

This airport is a total disaster! There is no way to drop off passengers without going to/through the express parking. There are hundreds of cars squeezed in all at the same time 90% of them unloading passengers and baggage while blocking the flow. Access signage on the highway is more than poorly done. How about simply copying systems which work in other parts of the world? Inside the airport there is no space at all for exiting passengers. They are all packed together in a far too small corridor. The bottom line is simple: if you can just avoid this airport.

Positives - relatively clean airport convenient and easy to move around when there aren't any queues. Negatives - there is nothing to do in the airport besides drinking awful tasting coffee buying over-priced magazines going on the internet (which costs a fortune and takes forever to load) and wait for your flight. Staff in 99% of cases only speak French and very broken English. Bus and Train are horrific. Road indications to the airport are borderline non-existent.

Disregard for the well-being of disabled passengers. My mother who is 75 disabled hard of hearing was forced to go through passport and security controls alone in a wheelchair with an adolescent worker while my dad had to go through on his own on the other side. This caused much distress to all concerned. At Edinburgh airport there was absolutely no problem for them to go through together.

The bus connection between the airport and Brussels is a disaster. Do not rely on it there is a good possibility that when you arrive outside Brussels midi station the only bus will have gone full the second bus will have broken down and then you will be accosted by carefully planted taxi drivers who will inform you that the only way to get to Charleroi is with them for 40 euros plus. A disgrace.

Parking is more expensive than flying from Charleroi. Most times. Too few seats it's rather dirty. The Long term parking is just closed the most times I come. They say "only open in times of passengers influx" - I think nobody really knows what this means.

Difficult to find especially at the moment while extensive roadworks are going on causing a long detour. I paid 55 euros for slightly over 2 days parking in the long term car park so I will avoid parking there in the future as much as possible. Driving once inside the huge parking area is quite impossible there are signs for the exit pointing in different directions leading to an unplanned tour of the car park. The facilities are poor and expensive inside also.

I travelled this summer and was expecting long queues but it was really fast. Security staff nice. Facilities ok. Restaurant prices are very expensive. Overall a good experience and a more friendly airport than Brussels Airport.