Storm Ciara and its strong winds will have a limited effect on the activity at Brussels Airport on Sunday evening.
It is no longer possible to use the walkways to board and disembark passengers when winds are stronger than 111km/h: they have to use stairs, which slows everything down and can cause delays.
The current forecast says the winds should only be that strong between 9pm and 11pm.
The IRM has forecast winds of 80 – 110 km/h on Sunday afternoon, with a risk of damage in some areas. The winds will get even stronger the following evening and night, with peaks of 110 – 130 km/h or more.
Spokesperson Nathalie Pierard said Brussels Airport has already put extra measures in place for the operations on the tarmac (loading, luggage, refuelling etc). Equipment will be protected and particular attention will be paid to objects that could fly away.
Take-off and landing will not be affected as winds from the West blow parallel to the busiest runways, so it won’t blow the planes off course. They will just need more space to land.
Passengers won’t be able to use the walkways if wind speeds go above 111km/h. This would force the airport to use stairs, but it doesn’t have enough of them to handle the busiest departure times such as 7pm on Sunday.
This could lead to some delays. The airport does however only think there will only be a limited impact due to the small number of flights leaving between 9pm and 11pm, when the winds will be strongest.
The Brussels Times
