Hotel Mercure Brussels Airport

An important message to connecting travellers: Please allocate at least 2-3 hours between flights! Brussels Airport has by far the worst design of any airport I've flown to, as Gates A and B are separated by immigration. We arrived at Brussels Airport (January 2025) 4 hours before our flight and were appalled by the long queues at Immigration where only two counter was opened. Many travellers who arrived from destinations in Gate A had to get to Gate B for their connecting flights and we were appalled to see many of them requesting to cut the immigration queues, showing us their previous flight tickets as well as connecting flight gate closure timings which were less than 5 minutes away! Many of these passengers not only missed their flights, it also added to the immigration queues. Not to mention, their request to cut the line also caused a few scuffles and airport police had to be brought in. It's unfair to blame these travellers as they are victims of poor airport design and not the result of reaching the airport late (or even waking up late for flights). Note that we ourselves only reached our departure gates 20-30 minutes before it closed ourselves. Please take note of this and if you have a flight departing Brussels Airport, please cater 4 hours for check-in and immigration! Wishing you all the best.

We had to travel via Brussels from Heathrow to Ljubliana. On arrival our aircraft parked beside our depating aircraft. We had to walk to terminal B from Terminal A in order to pass through border control. It was closed with no way through and directions to another section which was also closed. Asking for help was pointless. We were told to just wait by the closed door. After 10 minutes the foor opened and 2 members of staff were bewildered to see 20 people queuing to get through. They rechecked our carryons and filtered us through to passport control which was closed. We were redirected back along a really long winding route back to the initial closed border control with the slowest official ive ever encountered. Eventually we all ran for our plane which was indeed the one next to the one we arrived on. The departure time had been and gone but the aircraft was still there and waiting for us. The crew were magnificent. They knew it wasnt our fault. Its the way the airport treats transferring passengers from the UK. Totally unneccessary, very frustrating and not a hope in hell that i will use Brussels airport again. Just a totally stupid approach by airport staff. Every single person we asked for help had great fun directing us the wrong way.

Someone told me they had stood in line for 3 hours to get through customs at Brussels airport and I thought it was a fluke….. But it seems to be the standard. Isn’t Belgium a civilized country? Isn’t the European Union based in Brussels? I have been in line for 2 hours and I’m only half way to the border control!!!! Infants and seniors standing in line also, SHAMEFUL What a horrible welcome! I will Never Ever return here

Brussels airport is the worst airport in the world! The passport line for non- EU passports was FOUR HOURS! Not because of the number of flights but because of the disorganization and incompetence of the agents It is worse than any airport in Central America Avoid flying to Brussels at all costs, if you need to come here it is better and faster to fly to the Netherlands and take a train, it will be shorter that the line

A huge pro is how this airport is directly connected to the main public transit system. It took us less than 40 minutes to get from downtown without having to walk outside. A major con is the layout. It's a big airport and they just don't seem to have it streamlined. Bathrooms are also rather spread out. A pet peeve, although this one on the airline and not the airport, was that British Airways didn't have its screen lit up. After we ran into trouble checking in at the kiosk, we struggled to find them. Even airport staff wasn't sure.

Here's a revised version of your text: --- Despite being one of the most important official gateways in Europe, the customs experience was unpleasant and inefficient. The security officers were shouting at some passengers, and the immigration process took over an hour and a half. There were only four officers handling more than 1,000 passengers, leading to overcrowded conditions with many elderly and children struggling to cope. The area was chaotic, with elderly passengers unable to stand, children needing to use the restroom, and travelers at risk of missing their flights. It's surprising that the airport management hasn't adopted more efficient practices seen in many Asian airports. The problem, these airport management and staff never traveled to places in far east to learn how do international busy airport can be handled. As a frequent traveler holding a first-class ticket, I was disappointed by the lack of a fast track line. The situation felt uncivilized, and the high number of passengers made it easy to catch viruses before traveling.