Belgium's second-busiest airport will be shut down for renovations

Brussels Charleroi Airport will completely suspend all air traffic for 11 weeks—from August 15 to October 31, 2028. The suspension is necessary to allow SOWAER to carry out a major reconstruction of the airport’s single runway, which has an estimated service life of 25 years, as well as a large-scale modernization of the infrastructure.

According to the Belgian broadcaster RTBF, the cost of the work is estimated at approximately 50 million euros. To minimize the duration of the disruption, all construction projects will be carried out simultaneously. 

Given that the airport served 11.2 million passengers in 2025, the temporary closure could affect the travel plans of more than 2 million travelers. Charleroi is a major hub for the low-cost carriers Ryanair, Wizz Air, and Pegasus Airlines.

This was reported by Politico.

As a reminder, Ryanair will cut flights in Belgium due to a new aviation tax.

The Irish airline Ryanair has warned passengers of potentially long lines at passport control at 16 popular European airports due to the implementation of the new EU Entry/Exit System (EES).

As a reminder, a Ryanair passenger plane flying from Thessaloniki, Greece, to Munich was forced to return to its departure airport due to a serious technical problem.