This is a known subject at Brussels airport. Several passengers miss their flight after long minutes of waiting at passport control. The misadventure happened to Stephen who was leaving to visit his family in Ghana.
“There were two people at the counters for hundreds of passengers.” Évelyne is flabbergasted. Stephen, her father, is of Ghanaian origin. He has lived in Belgium for 34 years now and is delighted to return home from time to time to greet his family. It is for this purpose that he has booked a direct flight to Accra, the capital. Only here, once arrived at Brussels airport, the man checked in his luggage and headed for passport control. His daughter said: “As he has a Ghanaian passport, he is on the side of non-European travelers and there are a lot of people.“A lot of people and only two policemen to manage the whole flow.
“He sees the time pass but does not worry too much, he tells himself that he has not heard a call, that it will be fine“, explains Évelyne, in contact with him all the time. An hour and a half later, Stephen finally reaches the boarding gate… But the plane has already left.
Several passengers at the quay
In front of the closed boarding gate of flight SN0277, Stephen was not alone. “We are used to missed flights because of queues at controls, there are about ten of you“, explains an airport staff member to Stephen, inviting him to redirect to the counters at the entrance of the airport to “be redirected to another flight“.
We contacted Brussels airport, which redirected us to the Federal Police, in charge of passport checks, the source of the problem. Jana Verdegem, the spokesperson, admits that this step takes time, but says measurement is paramount. “The number of passengers fluctuates according to the number of scheduled flights. The Aeronautical Police do their best to adapt the number of staff members hired to the number of people expected..” And that’s where the shoe pinches. The Aeronautical Police suffers from a shortage of personnel. Last October, director Simon De Block confided that he had 398 agents available when he needed 533 to run at full capacity. diet.
Same story on the side of Brussels Airlines which confirms that several travelers have missed the flight that Stephen was to take. A well-known bane of the company: “Brussels Airlines has been raising this point for a long time and with different politicians.“While waiting for a solution, it is impossible for the plane to wait for the passengers.”The flight in question had already been delayed by approximately 15 minutes to allow as many passengers as possible to board. When the delay becomes too great, we are forced to leave.”
It was impossible for him to miss this flight
All’s well that ends well, or almost, for Stephen
Stephen, grounded, then goes to the counters of the airport to find an alternative. “He was offered a ticket for the next day at €390. He took a few minutes to think and the price had already gone up. This time, he was asked 490€“, explains Évelyne, shocked. Encouraged by his daughter, the man ends up taking the proposed ticket. But his ordeal is not over. He does not know where his suitcases are. “He was told that there was no question of repatriating his luggage if he took a flight for the next day, that he would find it there“A logical solution, but a new source of stress for the family awaiting arrival in Ghana.”He saved several months for this vacation which became a nightmare“, asserts Evelyne.
The next morning Stephen arrived”well in advance” to get his flight but the obstacle course is not over yet. This time the plane was overbooked due to a logistical problem. “It was impossible for him not to take this flight“, specifies Évelyne. Fortunately, the situation was quickly taken in hand by the company and Stephen was finally able to find his family and his suitcases. It’s a story that ends well for Stephen, less for his wallet. Total cost of the operation: €1,290.
A temporary solution
We understand that even if the organizations are working on it, the situation will not be resolved in the short term. In the meantime, Brussels airport has set up a “calculator tool“. It is enough to indicate a destination and a date of departure for the tool to generate a recommended arrival time at the airport. It is also possible to receive notifications relating to the flight in real time.