Come fly with me: Summer destinations from Belgium's regional airports

Brussels National

Let’s start with Belgium’s biggest airport, returning to normal operations after March’s terrorist attack. Despite the loss of direct flights to the US and Canada through Jet Airways – an India-based airline that has decided to move its base out of Brussels –there is good news for Transatlantic travellers. Belgium’s biggest carrier, Brussels Airlines, has announced new direct flights from Brussels to Toronto, as well as from Brussels to New York (Newark) in collaboration with United Airlines. The direct flights to Toronto are scheduled to fly five times a week. From summer 2016, direct flights through United Airlines will fly to New York (Newark) once or twice a day. New summer destinations in Greece have just been made available to travellers through Brussels Airlines, with new direct flights to the touristic destinations of Thessaloniki and Heraklion. These new will depart regularly, beginning in May and running until October 2016. And Delta Airlines offers daily non-stop flights to New York JFK.

15km from Brussels; up to six trains an hour connect with the capital

Brussels South Charleroi

Belgium’s second-largest airport is also a popular choice for travellers. According to travel analysts at OAG, Charleroi is the second most punctual airport in the world, with roughly 94% of flights arriving on time. Other news to consider: two of Europe’s biggest low-cost airlines, Ryanair and Wizz Air, have introduced new destinations from Charleroi to Eastern Europe. Wizz Air has announced direct flights from Charleroi to Lublin in Poland, its third Polish destination via Charleroi. The airline offers one-way tickets to Lublin, as well as to 10 other destinations in central and Eastern Europe, from €9.99. Further increasing Charleroi’s Eastern European connections, Ryanair will begin flights from Charleroi to Timisoara in Romania in November. Ryanair has also introduced a new route to Scandinavia: in October 2015, Copenhagen became the airport’s third Scandinavian destination.

60km from Brussels; take a train to Charleroi-Sud and from there a shuttle bus to the airport terminal; direct buses also regularly leave from Brussels Midi

Liège

One of the more underrated airports in Belgium. Despite its reputation for being mainly a cargo hub, Liège offers summer flights to destinations all over the Mediterranean such as Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, Heraklion, the Canary Islands and more. In 2015, passenger traffic greatly increased when BMI launched a new direct route to Munich, making it the first daily connection for travellers through Liège. 

90km from Brussels; trains run two or three times an hour to Liège-Guillemins and from there you can take a bus or taxi the 10km to the airport

Antwerp International

Though usually not the first Belgian airport that comes to mind, Antwerp has become a viable travel base for business people and tourists alike. CityJet offers up to four flights a day to London City Airport, Chalair flies to Caen and Geneva and Jetairfly offers 21 flights a week to Alicante, Barcelona, Berlijn, Ibiza, Malaga, Nador, Palma de Mallorca, Rome and Split. Last year, VLM Airlines launched direct flights between Antwerp and Hamburg. However, VLM has just filed for bankruptcy and sacked all of its staff, so VLM's routes are currently on hold.

50km from Brussels; trains run two or three times every hour to Antwerpen-Berchem, which is 3km from the airport

Ostend-Bruges International

Finally, there is one other overlooked Belgian airport. Like Antwerp and Liège, Ostend- Bruges also offers summer flights to a variety of popular Mediterranean destinations, including Spain, Turkey and the Greek Islands. The newest destination available to those traveling through Ostend-Bruges is Rome, with Jetairfly launching regular scheduled flights between Ostend-Bruges and Rome-Fiumicino in October.

About 120km from Brussels; trains run twice an hour to Oostende, which is 5km from the airport

This article first appeared in The Bulletin Newcomer, spring 2016