Good info, but for my taste, that’s too much in the “all is bad” category.
If one starts to worry about “lack of security service” (in Central Europe), then there is no hope I’m afraid.
Just my pov.
I would take EBAW ifr + vfr. Small international airport with support. Friendly ATC. Not too expensive. Bus and train nearby
EBGB, only vfr, strict PPR and procedures. Small field, in the ctr of Brussels.
EBCI: sometimes very busy with long taxi-times. Otherwise ok.
EBLG: Friendly ATC. International.
Kortrijk (EBKT) is an hour from Brussels by car (when no traffic). IFR, avgas, 25 eur landing fee, no mandatory handling…
[just making some publicity of my home base while seconding all above info]
Kortrijk (EBKT) is an hour from Brussels by car (when no traffic).
The issue is to take a car on the plane.
With the train it is 1:41 + time to get to the station.
That will be more than 2hrs, not what I call a local airport.
To my knowledge, there is no way to get a rental car at Kortrijk. There was one company (Hertz) that would bring a car to the airport but they made some bad experience and stopped doing it as they told me.
Brussels is traffic hell, worst place in Europe. You can easily spend 2h or more on the highway and ring road when coming from Kortrijk/Antwerp or anywhere else.
Yes, there are some hours of the day when the motorways around Brussels are totally saturated, but two hours sounds like very much; unless of course some accident has happened, and they are indeed rather frequent, often with truckers from Eastern Europe involved. When I drive a car into Brussels on a working day, I try to be at my destination by seven o’clock. But the Dutch “Randstad” (Amsterdam, Den Haag, Leiden, Rotterdam) must be a good deal worse, if I may believe my Dutch colleagues.
Regarding Kortrijk, I agree it takes too long to get to Brussels from there – but EBSG Saint Ghislain as someone suggested must be worse, still less facilities and located in a forgotten out-corner of the world. A nice field, though, with an excellent restaurant.
I asked the same question a year ago, as I sometimes need to go to Brussels for work.
If the weather is VFR, your best bet is Grimbergen EBGB. Daytime only, but cheap and quite close to the city center.
I suggest you call a cab as soon as you land, as it takes a while for the taxi to arrive.
If the weather is below VFR, Antwerpen EBAW seems to be the best alternative.
Or Charleroi, but I don’t have experience with it myself…
Brussels is traffic hell, worst place in Europe. You can easily spend 2h or more on the highway and ring road when coming from Kortrijk/Antwerp or anywhere else.
Taxi to Kortrijk railway-station for about 13 euro good train connections to Brussels via Gent
Bit late, but EBCI is your best bet. All the services you need, 7EUR/tonne landing, and if budget is really an issue it’s less than 10EUR to the other side and then about 14EUR on the buses (every 30 minutes) to central Brussels.
That’s where we keep our machine…
Sorry, might have been more useful a month ago!
