Brussels airport reopening nears as security deal reached with police

Brussels: The Belgian government reached an agreement on Friday with police on introducing tighter security at Brussels Airport after the jihadist suicide attacks, a union leader said, clearing the way for the reopening of the key transport hub.

"There is an agreement," Vincent Gilles, head of the SLFP police union, told AFP after hours-long talks, adding that the government and the airport operator had given in to the main demand for "systematic checks" of passengers and their luggage before going through customs.

The deal will allow for the airport's reopening "in the coming days", according to Gilles, although the final decision rests with the government.

The operator of the airport, whose departure hall was wrecked in the blasts on March 22, had said yesterday it was "technically ready" to resume partial services after testing new, temporary check-in facilities.

But no flights were announced as police unions held up the planned reopening, threatening to go on strike unless stricter checks were imposed.

Complaining about lax security in the past they proposed using metal detectors to check all visitors before they enter the airport zone.

It was not immediately clear if the agreed new security checks would take place outside the temporary departure hall, something the airport operator earlier warned would create long queues that could be another target for attackers.

When Zaventem airport does reopen, it will only be working at 20 percent capacity, the operator has warned, handling 800 to 1,000 passengers an hour. Chief executive Arnaud Feist has said it could take months to return to normal.

The airport's spokeswoman Florence Muls, speaking to AFP before the deal with police was announced, said flights would resume on Sunday at the earliest.

"Once we have a formal agreement on the security measures, approved by the interior ministry, we can start calling employees and carriers can contact their passengers, this will take some time," she said.