Brussels South Charleroi Airport

The new passenger terminal at the Brussels South Charleroi airport was opened in January 2008. Image courtesy of Fernandopascullo.

The airport handled more than 6.51 million passengers in 2012. Image courtesy of Krzysztof Sampławski.

The Charleroi-South rail station located near the airport connects the airport to many cities in Belgium.

Brussels South Charleroi airport is the second largest airport in Belgium. The airport is located in the town of Gosselies near Charleroi city, approximately 46km south of central Brussels, Belgium. The airport is owned by the Government of Walloon Region and operated by Société Wallonne des Aéroports (SOWAER).

The airport handled more than 6.51 million passengers and witnessed 84,313 aircraft movements in 2012.

Expansions at Brussels South Charleroi airport

The airport expansion was initiated in December 2011. The expansion will be completed in two phases. The first phase includes preparation of a long-term master plan, which will be followed by the subsequent design and construction supervision works. It also includes the expansion of the terminal building, parking areas, airport security facilities and the retail areas.

The expansion is intended to increase the passenger handling capacity at the airport to 9.5 million per year by 2020. It is expected to be completed by 2016.

Contractors

AERTEC Solutions, a Spanish engineering and consultancy firm, was awarded a contract to provide master plan and design and construction supervision services for the expansion project.

SOWAER awarded a contract to Wanty-TRBA for the construction of 14 new aircraft parking stands at the airport, in March 2012.

In August 2012, AERTEC Solutions was awarded another contract to provide architecture and design for the new control tower to be built at the airport. The estimated investment for the construction of the control tower is about €8m.

Terminal features

The airport currently has one passenger terminal, which was opened in January 2008. The terminal project included construction of a new 100,000m² aircraft parking area, a 90,000m² covered car park with 5,000 slots, and road infrastructure such as construction of access roads, roundabouts, as well as outside car parks for buses, taxis and staff.

The new terminal was constructed with an investment of €125m. It can handle about five million international passengers a year.

Louis Engineering was the contractor for the design and survey works related to the new terminal project.

The terminal has seven airport gates, two baggage claim belts, 12 check-in desks, and security control zones. It has 19 aircraft stands. The passenger facilities at the terminal include a VIP lounge, bank, currency exchange, information desk, lost and found, ground transportation facilities, and Wi-Fi Internet access. The terminal also features restaurants, travel agencies, duty-free shop, book shop, and car rental agencies.

The airport also has a cargo terminal with a 1,200m² warehouse.

Runway

The airport has a single runway (07/25), which is 2,550m long and paved with asphalt. The runway is of ILS (Instrument Landing System) category III standards.

Ground transportation

The airport has numerous modes of ground transportation facilities available. The Charleroi-Sud railway station is located near the airport. TEC public buses offers bus services between the airport and Charleroi-Sud station on bus line A. The airport is also located close to the A54 and E42 motorways.

Taxis at the airport are available outside the passenger terminal. Visitors can also make use of Brussels City Shuttle, Shuttle Lille and Shuttle Luxemburg services from the airport. In addition, car rental agencies have offices in the passenger terminal.