Two European airports to close affecting easyJet and Ryanair flights from UK
In 2024, Brussels South Charleroi Airport served more than 10 million passengers.
But for much of 2028, no one will be passing through the terminals.
That’s because it’ll be closing for almost three months – during the summer holidays, no less, between August 15 and October 31.
The travel hub, which is the second largest airport in Belgium and serves both Brussels and nearby Charleroi, is getting a major runway upgrade.
The 3,200-metre runway will be completely resurfaced, a move which is understood to come at a cost of €50 million (£42.8 million).
Ryanair has a base at Charleroi, and it currently operates flights to the likes of Tirana, Vienna, Sarajevo, Sofia, Zagreb, Prague, and Barcelona.
Wizz Air also flies from there, including to the likes of Skopje, Warsaw, Bucharest, Budapest, and Pristina, while Air Arabia and Air Corsica offer seasonal flights to Oujda, Ajaccio, Bastia, Calvi, and Figari.
In 2024, the busiest route was to Bucharest in Romania, taken by 343,858 people, followed by Tirana, Bergamo, Budapest, and Manchester.
However, there’s no direct flight through to London, which is served by Brussels Airport, operated by both Brussels Airlines and British Airways.
According to reports in The Sun, all existing flights will need to be diverted, though there’s currently limited information on the interim plans.
Trade unions are reportedly unhappy with the plans, as many are questioning whether the closure means all routes currently operating in and out of Charleroi will return afterwards.
Other airports, like London Heathrow, operate a strict use-it-or-lose-it policy, which means airlines are required to maintain at least 80% of their take-off and landing slots if they want to keep them.
This rule is in place for a number of reasons, mainly so the airport can minimise congestion.
The policy was waived during the pandemic, when countless airlines were unable to fulfil slots due to the lockdown and the resulting drop in demand.
Since Charleroi Airport is also in the EU, it comes under the same use-it-or-lose-it regulation, which is European Commission policy.
However, there are certain exceptions to the rule, which typically include when either a specific airport or an airspace is closed, rendering the possibility of fulfilling the 80% quota impossible.
A spokesperson for Charleroi Airport told Metro: ‘A complete refurbishment of Charleroi Airport’s sole runway, together with other major infrastructure modernisation works, has been scheduled by SOWAER for the second half of 2028.
‘These investments are intended to ensure the airport’s long-term safety, operational performance and attractiveness.
‘To minimise the overall duration of the disruption, the various construction projects will be carried out simultaneously. This will require a temporary suspension of air traffic during the works.
‘We are currently working closely with all stakeholders to plan these projects, identify operational constraints and manage their impacts.’
Alongside Charleroi, Almería Airport in Spain will be closing its doors temporarily in 2028. For six days, all flights will be grounded to make way for a new and improved runway.
At the moment, there are direct flights from London Southend Airport to Almería Airport through easyJet, which takes 2 hours and 45 minutes.
There’s also a route from Gatwick, again through easyJet.
The hub serves the Andalusia region, in the southeast of Spain, accommodating around 800,000 passengers per year.
The area is a tourist hotspot, home to popular cities like Seville, Granada and Malaga. In 2023, approximately 2.65 million Brits visited, but despite this, Almería remains widely under-explored in comparison.
Other European airport closures
Charleroi isn’t the only airport closure that’s been announced this year. Last month, Coventry Airport in the West Midlands closed its doors.
It was once a handy hub for travellers in the local area, with Wizz Air flying to various European destinations, including Poland and Italy, until 2008.
Its runway was even graced by none other than Pope John Paul II back in 1982, who flew in via helicopter from Coventry.
But in recent years, things have been a little quieter, as the airport was only served by the Air Ambulance Service and private charter flights, which is what led it towards closure after 90 years of service.
Meanwhile, for a period of time, Alderney Airport was the first – and only – airport in the Channel Islands.
Built in 1935, the neighbouring islands were only connected by air when Jersey Airport opened in 1937 and Guernsey in 1939.
Earlier this year, it was announced the airport would be closing to make way for a considerable revamp to the runway.
At the moment, it measures 877 metres, and while the work will keep this length, it’ll widen it by five metres, from 18 to 23.
The taxiway will be resurfaced, and the lighting systems updated so that planes will be able to fly in poor weather conditions without much disruption, as is currently often the case. Talk about a glow-up, hey?
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