Brussels Airport invests €52 million to equip Pier B with new boarding bridges

Brussels Airport is investing over 52 million euros to equip its Pier B with new boarding bridges and offer greater comfort to passengers. This large-scale project is an important step towards meeting the future demands of its customers, passengers and airlines and preparing for future technological developments in aviation.

The 24 boarding and deboarding bridges at Pier B date from 1992 and will gradually be replaced by state-of-the-art aerobridges to meet the general trend with airlines of operating flights to Brussels Airport with ever larger aircraft. Equipped with air conditioning and large windows, these new bridges not only have a modern look, they’re also more efficient.

« This major investment in new state-of-the-art boarding bridges perfectly fits in with Brussels Airport’s strategy of offering greater comfort to our customers, passengers and airlines, and increasing operational efficiency », explains Arnaud Feist, CEO of Brussels Airport.

Two thirds of the new aerobridges will be dual boarding bridges, which will speed up the boarding and deboarding process while offering greater comfort to passengers and enhanced operational efficiency for airlines. A triple boarding bridge will be installed at gates 31 and 33 of Pier B, which will enable Brussels Airport to meet future demands from the airlines to operate with A380s. In the meantime, it can be used as a double boarding bridge to accommodate large aircraft such as the Airbus A330 and A350 and the Boeing 777 and 787. Work on the installation of this triple boarding bridge will begin this week, heralding the launch of the first phase in the renovation programme.

The replacement of the 22 other boarding bridges will commence at the end of 2018. To maintain full operational capacity, the work will be rolled out in phases. The project will be completed around 2022.