Brussels Airport receives ACI Airport Health Accreditation

Brussels Airport makes every effort to ensure that the airport’s facilities are hygienic and safe to welcome passengers. The combination of the various health safety measures has indeed allowed it to meet the highest standards, which earned Brussels Airport the Airport Health Accreditation from ACI World. The Airport Health Accreditation programme was established to restore confidence in travellers about the safety of airport facilities and the effectiveness of the precautionary measures implemented to prevent any risk to their health.

This accreditation shows that the airport offers a safe experience to all passengers, in compliance with the recommendations by ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) and with the COVID-19 Aviation Health Safety Protocol issued by EASA/ECDC (European Union Aviation Safety Agency/European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control).

“This accreditation is a recognition of all the COVID measures that have been implemented at Brussels Airport since June,” says Arnaud Feist, CEO Brussels Airport Company. “It is both gratifying and encouraging to see that the efforts made by our staff and partners are recognised internationally.”

Brussels Airport makes every effort to ensure that the airport’s facilities are hygienic and safe to welcome passengers. The combination of the various health safety measures has indeed allowed it to meet the highest standards, which earned Brussels Airport the Airport Health Accreditation from ACI World.

COVID-19 Test Centre opens at Brussels Airport

A COVID-19 Test Centre opened at Brussels Airport on 14 September 2020. Passengers now have the opportunity to get a COVID-19 test on site at the airport, while the Test Centre is also open to those who are not travelling but need to have a test taken within the scope of contact tracing.

“We took the initiative to put up a test centre at the airport to further strengthen our sanitary measures against COVID-19 and thus contribute to protecting public health,” says Feist. “The test results will be rapidly communicated to the passengers. Testing is an essential element to allow the aviation industry, and the economy in general, to gradually get out of the current crisis without compromising the health and safety of the public.”

Passengers who are returning from a red area and who already received a corona test prescription code can get themselves tested immediately upon their arrival at the airport. In a second phase, when the onsite lab is operational at the airport (end of September), departing passengers too will be able to get a test. For example, passengers travelling to a country that requires a negative COVID-19 test certificate will be able to obtain this certificate at the airport. Persons who are not travelling but need to get a test following a contact tracing, and who consequently dispose of an activation code, will then also be welcome at the Test Centre.

A COVID-19 Test Centre opened at Brussels Airport on 14 September 2020. Passengers now have the opportunity to get a COVID-19 test on site at the airport, while the Test Centre is also open to those who are not travelling but need to have a test taken within the scope of contact tracing.

Rapid analyses in an accredited lab

The Test Centre is operated by Ecolog as logistics partner, in collaboration with the Eurofins-Lab of Van Poucke. In a first phase, the results will be processed externally. By the end of September, the mobile lab at Brussels Airport will be ready and the tests can be processed onsite, making the results available even faster. The Van Poucke clinical lab is accredited by the Belgian Accreditation body BELAC for analysing the tests.

The tests carried out are PCR tests for which a nasal swab sample is to be collected. The results will be available within 24 hours. As soon as the laboratory at Brussels Airport is ready, the results of a rapid test will be available within three hours, those of the standard test within nine hours.

Arnaud Feist, CEO Brussels Airport Company: “We took the initiative to put up a test centre at the airport to further strengthen our sanitary measures against COVID-19 and thus contribute to protecting public health.”


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