Brussels Airport Reviews 

Waited 3 hours in immigration queue. They know how many planes are arriving, they should have the capcity to accept the passengers. Plus they ask questions that I have never been asked anywhere else. Worse airport I’ve been to.

4+ hour wait on customs arrival for non-eu. Will not fly here again. There are better options.

With the ironically posted posters touting the new more efficient process for passport control; we waited in line for 2.5 hours!!! After flying to Brussels for 7 hours we found ourselves in a living (standing) hell! No toilets, complete disregard for people’s physical health/capabilities; we stood and waited and waited and waited!! Easily the most disrespectful, inhumane treatment in any airport I’ve ever experienced - and I’ve travellers all over the world! The new “more efficient” way is anything but!! Shame on the airport authorities!!

I wish I could give 0 stars. The non eu line is absolutely ridiculous and we should not be queued for three to four hours. Definitely do not recommend coming here. Land elsewhere and then find a train to Belgium to avoid this massive headache

Worst airport i have been to.
Alyzia check in service does not even have a card terminal.

Reciept from paying with cash was written by pencil.. IN 2026?!

Worst airport experience ever! It makes no sense to have the chance to buy a gift if you cannot bring it in the plane! Never again!

If you're not an EU citizen. Lots of queues both arriving and deparring. Will fly via Amsterdam next time.

I've been travelling for over 50 years and never faced such a long wait for the passport check after arriving at Brussels airport. I strongly reccomended all travellers avoid this airport. The staff have zero consideration for travellers.

The luggage control at Brussels airport was an absolute disgrace and a humiliation. After the highly effective x-ray scanning of the bags and suitcases the over-zealous 'controllers' insisted on opened each and every bag and suitcase, and controlled every item they could find (including pyjamas, underwear etc). The decent and absolutely harmless middle-aged lady in front of me even had to undergo the humiliation of seeing the young 'show-offy' controller opening her wallet and purse, and then check with his fingers among the coins to see if there were no hidden explosives! Absolutely ridiculous and scandalous. My own shaving lotion and another (new) spray can were confiscated without mercy, although it represented no danger whatsoever. How much longer must the public put up with the harassment of these controllers whose senseless and prying luggage control serves no other purpose than to show off their 'authority', and which has absolutely nothing to do with safety? In Madrid the luggage control of my (same) luggage took three minutes, with an official looking at the x-rays of my suitcase and seeing that all was safe. Why can't the Brussels luggage 'controllers' grow up and not abuse their 'authority' to harass harmless travelers?

1,5 hours queue at Police counter ! After a 12 hours flight, how come à so called international airport can impose such treatment to travelers ? Baaaad

Horrible waiting time for passport control… over one hour, people skipping the line, very disorganised.

Unacceptably long and slow passport control line to enter Belgium

I’ve been to many airports, but I found this one incredibly grim, dirty, and full of rude staff.

I was traveling to Malta and decided to fly from Brussels because it was much cheaper than from Amsterdam, where I live. Upon arrival, it was okay. I came by Flixbus and had to walk through a covered path to the airport, which was really rough on my suitcase wheels, but that’s to be expected given the poor quality of the carroads.
Since my flight was in the evening and I arrived early to explore Brussels, I decided to temporarily store my luggage in a locker. The entrance was full of not only travelers but also beggars asking for money and cigarettes. Everything was too dirty to touch (and I’m not even germophobic), and the staff I encountered were rude, unhelpful, and unfriendly. The lockers were located in a secluded area near the bike parking. There were cameras, but they offered little comfort when standing there alone in the dark among shady people.

When it was time for my flight, I realized I hadn’t checked-in my checked baggage (my misstake). At security, the staff initially insisted my small bag was cabin baggage, even though I had paid for checked-in baggage, and they said the bottle over 100ml had to be discarded. Only after I argued that I had paid for checked-in baggage did they allow me to go back and check it in. I had arrived early, but the check-in desk was still closed. Thankfully, the information desk was very kind and let me know when and where it would open. I had to wait over an hour with very limited options for where to go. Once the desk opened, I got everything sorted and returned to security.

Since I had already scanned my ticket earlier, I wasn’t allowed to go through immediately and had to go to a separate line. One staff member had already cleared me, but a young girl stopped me, loudly questioning whether I had permission to pass. Eventually, it was resolved, and I got through, but her way of treating me, felt like I was a criminal.

Behind security, there was enough seating and space to wander.
On my return, I had another frustrating experience. My checked luggage was missing. The drop-off area required a 10–15 minute walk from the plane, and no staff were available for assistance. I wasn’t the only one, other passengers were also waiting. After about 30 minutes with no luggage, we found another drop-off area where our bags were finally located. There were no signs indicating where exactly to collect luggage, which would have been very helpful.
Next, I tried to find the exit. There was a huge hall for taxis but no indication of where buses departed. I urgently needed a restroom, but there were none in sight. After another a while, I finally found one. The cleaner there was incredibly kind (he could probably teach the ground staff a thing or two about hospitality).

While heading to the exit, I encountered ground staff joking and roughly moving around. I was almost kicked in the face. Joking is fine, but this was unacceptable.

On the escalators, I saw an older couple who spoke only French. Four airport staff passed by them and refused to help, raising their hands and saying, “No, can’t help” or “Not now.” I have literally never seen such rude behavior anywhere, not even in a shop or supermarket.

Finally, I had to find my way to the Flixbus. Again, there were no signs or instructions. With the help of a fellow traveler and a few tourists, I finally made it out.

In short, I found this airport extremely rude, dirty, chaotic, unhelpful, and unsafe. The only advantage is the significantly lower flight prices. Otherwise, it is shocking for a Western country, especially regarding safety. In contrast, Malta was spotless, you could practically eat off the ground. No question was too much there, and even though it’s small and impossible to get lost, there are clear signs everywhere.

We had a horrible experience with their…
We had a horrible experience with their TSA security , a woman TSA security took our baby's bottle and would not give it to us while our baby was crying for the formula bottle that we put in the bag , I asked her please give me the bottle our baby is crying she seem to have some type of psychological issue with babies , I had other liquid bottles that she did not even look at but only the baby's formula bottle that the baby was drinking , she said she has to check the bottle , she purposely goes to another passenger starts checking his bag very slowly , it was obvious she wanted to be very slow before getting to us , she finally starts with us I asked her can we have the bottle the baby is crying , she said NO , I have to check the bottle first I said Okay , she puts the bottle in a machine then she grabs the bottle and starts walking away with bottle without expelling anything while the baby is crying , I got so angry and gave her my piece of mind , then this other TSA guy who look like he was just released from jail approaches me and start saying F you and I said NO F you and he kept it going like was losing his mind , she finally comes back with bottle , I think she just walked away just to take more time just to harass us or to release her psycho mind on a baby who was crying for his baby formula .
I have been to more than 35 counties and many multiple times but I have never had a such an experience dealing with airport security that has such a rude and psycho minded staff .
I would not recommend traveling to Belgium since they have such a low level of service and staff behavior at their airports that even third world countries stand above them .

Absolute the worse passport control I’ve ever been to. A line of almost 2 hours and 6 passport control kiosks with only 1 of them open.flight misses dispite me being here almost 3 hours before departure. Shame on you Brussels airport. You are a complete disgrace to the airport security industry. .

Reply to your reply - your generic reply does not help me or did not help me at the time. Full cost of a new flight had to be paid for by myself at no fault of my own. You should be held responsible and to account for your terrible actions.

Shame on you. Brussels airport - a disgrace to their industry.

I am thankful to be welcomed into this country. That being said, border control here is like purgatory. Every time the lines are very long and slow. It is hot and stuffy and stinky. This time a pregnant woman even collapsed in line from overheating. It has been this way for many years now.

I took a camera with 2 external batteries with me on my flight to Hungary a few days ago. Both batteries were in good shape when arriving to the airport. During security control, my bag was checked by a person of the security team. This person did a wrong manipulation with the camera by lifting it *from the battery* (instead of the camera): this broke the battery, as the connection between it and the camera is quite delicate.
I went to the security desk to ask for a reimbursement and received a complaint number. After 5 messages back-and-forth with the complaint service, I understood they don't want to believe it's the security's fault that the battery is broken and hence don't want to reimburse anything.
This is utterly insulting to my knowledge of my camera system and meticulous usage of my camera equipment, which I keep in good condition all the time. As a long time (20+ years) user of the Brussels Airport and Brussels Airlines, this is the first time anything is broken, and I'm in utter disbelief and very disappointed by the bad faith given by the complaint service.

Brussels Airport consistently fails to meet acceptable service standards. I travel through this airport twice a week, and the experience is repeatedly disappointing. Security queues are excessively long and poorly managed, causing unnecessary stress and delays.

Passenger services are limited, with very few bars or amenities available. Most lounges are closed, and even the proposed alternatives are frequently unavailable. Additionally, a significant number of escalators and moving walkways are out of service, which greatly affects passenger flow and accessibility.

For an airport of this size and importance, the overall organization and maintenance are inadequate. Substantial improvements in operations, staffing, and infrastructure are urgently needed.

Of course, leave it to the Belgians to organize anything! Over the holidays, with the biggest influx of people, they’ve only got 4 of the 12 automatic passport machines working (why invest in technology if they can’t handle it in the first place??) and only 2 agents to deal with EU passports. Creating, of course, long queues, kids screaming etc even got the EU line which should in theory go really fast. Such incompetence is difficult to beat anywhere in the world….