When will Brussels Airport reopen?

The forthcoming Easter holiday is one of the busiest times of the year for the airport, but spokeswoman Anke Fransen says that the examination of the crime scene by the police service is continuing and as long as the police remain at work, it's impossible to take a look in the terminal and assess the time it will take to deal with the damage.

Anke Fransen: "There could be a host of problems and we can only establish the situation once we are inside. There are important data cables on which the airport's ICT system operates. Are these in tact or not? This will be crucial in determining whether we can restart operations."

"Hopefully we can establish the damage in the course of the day. We will do everything to clear things up as quickly as possible."

Aviation expert Luk De Wilde has questions about the stability of the building. He believes the airport will only reopen after the Easter weekend.

"It will only be possible to evaluate the situation later today. Taking stock of the situation takes time and repairs will only be able to start tomorrow or the day after at the earliest."

Several airlines are looking for alternatives as long as the airport is shut.

Several flights bound for Brussels today have been diverted to other regional airports.  Twenty flights are being diverted to Charleroi.  Ostend, Antwerp and Liège airports too are taking flights.