![1920 - Lefébure Marcel - Terrain d'aviation de Gosselies](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/1920_-_Lef%C3%A9bure_Marcel_-_Terrain_d%27aviation_de_Gosselies.jpg)
Brussels South Charleroi Airport, nl, Luchthaven Zuid-Brussel Charleroi, german: Flughafen Brüssel-Charleroi (BSCA), also unofficially called Brussels-Charleroi Airport, Charleroi Airport or rarely ''Gosselies Airport'', is an
international airport
An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...
, located in
Gosselies, a part of the city of
Charleroi
Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. in the
Province of Hainaut
Hainaut (, also , , ; nl, Henegouwen ; wa, Hinnot; pcd, Hénau), historically also known as Heynowes in English, is a province of Wallonia and Belgium.
To its south lies the French department of Nord, while within Belgium it borders (clock ...
in
Wallonia
Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
. The airport is north
of Charleroi and south of central
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
. In terms of passengers and aircraft movements, it is the second busiest airport in Belgium having served 8.224.196 passengers in 2019 (82.043 movements). It is also a busy
general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...
airfield, being home to 3 flying schools.
The
Aéropole, one of the
Science Parks of Wallonia
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
, is located near the airport.
History
Early years
The first aeronautical activities in Gosselies date back to 1919 as a flying school, then aeronautical maintenance activities the following year. The British aircraft manufacturer
Fairey Aviation settled a subsidiary
Avions Fairey
Avions Fairey was the Belgian-based subsidiary of the British Fairey Aviation that built aircraft for the Belgian government. It subsequently separated from the UK parent and became SONACA.
History
In the late 1920s, the ''Aéronautique Mili ...
on the site (then known as ''Mont des Bergers'') in 1931.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the site was arranged as an
Advanced Landing Ground
Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) were temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II during the liberation of Europe. They were built in the UK prior to the invasion and thereafter in northwest Europe from 6 June 19 ...
(
A-87) for the allied air forces, from 14 September 1944 until 10 August 1945.
Gosselies airfield became a public aerodrome after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, but the main activities of the site remained aeronautical constructions (installation of
SABCA
SABCA (Sociétés Anonyme Belge de Constructions Aéronautiques) is a Belgian aerospace company. Its main sectors of activity are civil aviation, space and defence.
SABCA was established during 1920. Presently, it is owned by the French aircraf ...
in 1954, then
SONACA in 1978, taking the place of Fairey).
In the 1970s, the Belgian national airline
Sabena launched a
Liège
Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège.
The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...
–
Charleroi
Charleroi ( , , ; wa, Tchålerwè ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. By 1 January 2008, the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. –London service, but this was soon dropped because of poor results. Gosselies was left with almost no passenger traffic, the airport being mainly used for private or pleasure flights, training flights and occasional charters to leisure destinations around the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
or to
Algeria
)
, image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Algiers
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, relig ...
.
Development since the 1990s
Operations at Brussels South Charleroi grew in the 1990s, with a new commercial management structure (BSCA – Brussels South Charleroi Airport) and the arrival of Irish low-cost airline
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...
in 1997, which opened its first continental base at Charleroi a few years later.
Although criticised for the subsidies paid by the
Walloon government to help its installation, Ryanair opened new routes from Brussels South Charleroi (they also closed two destinations:
London–Stansted
London Stansted Airport is a Airports of London, tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London.
London Stansted serves over 16 ...
and
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, although Stansted was re-introduced in June 2007 before being suspended again).
Other low-cost carriers later joined Ryanair in Brussels South Charleroi, such as
Wizz Air
Wizz Air, legally incorporated as Wizz Air Hungary Ltd. ( hu, Wizz Air Hungary Légiközlekedési Zrt.) is a Hungarian ultra-low-cost carrier with its head office in Budapest, Hungary. The airline serves many cities across Europe, as well as s ...
. The Polish airline
Air Polonia
Air Polonia was the first privately owned Low-cost carrier, low-cost airline in Poland with its headquarters in Warsaw and its largest operations base at Warsaw Frédéric Chopin Airport. On 5 December 2004 Air Polonia ceased operations due to fin ...
operated services from here to
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
and
Katowice
Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most popul ...
before going bankrupt in August 2004.
In September 2006, it was announced that Moroccan low-cost airline
Jet4you would launch three weekly flights to
Casablanca
Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...
(on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday) starting 1 November 2006, in code-share cooperation with Belgian airline
Jetairfly.
A new terminal opened in January 2008. It has a capacity of up to 5 million passengers a year, which means that it has reached its maximum capacity in 2010 (5,195,372 passengers).
The
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
objected to assistance the airport offered to
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...
, since the airport is owned by the
Wallonia
Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...
regional government and thus the discounts and other benefits could be considered state aid. However, the Court of First Instance (a European Union court) decided on 17 December 2008 that the Commission's decision finding that illegal aid had been granted to Ryanair should be annulled and quashed as being erroneous in law. However, in March 2012, the Commission reopened the case in order to take this judgment into account.
In January 2017, a second terminal (Terminal 2) was opened in order to relieve the T1 during rush hours and to be able to accommodate 10 million passengers a year in the future.
In May 2019, work began on an extension of Charleroi Airport’s runway, bringing it to a total length of 3200 metres. Runway 06/24 is undergoing a 650 meter extension on the 24 end of the runway.
On Friday 8 October 2021, the runway extension was officially inaugurated in the presence of Minister Walloon in charge of Airports Jean-Luc Crucke.
The SABCA facility on site conducts depot-level maintenance, repair and overhaul work on
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...
F-16s
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it ...
based in Europe.
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Brussels South Charleroi Airport:
Statistics
Ground transportation
Bus
There are several shuttles to different cities in the neighbouring countries (Luxembourg, Metz, Thionville, Lille) plus a regular coach service that runs from the airport to
Brussels-South railway station
Brussels-South railway station (french: Gare de Bruxelles-Midi, nl, Station Brussel-Zuid, IATA code: ZYR), officially Brussels-South (french: Bruxelles-Midi, link=no, nl, Brussel-Zuid, link=no), is a major railway station in Brussels, Belgium ...
. Also, a special bus (Airport Express – A) operates from the airport to
Charleroi-South railway station. A combined bus and train ticket to any other Belgian railway station can be bought in the terminal.
Car
The airport is accessible by the
A54/
E420 highway
Accidents and incidents
* On 8 April 2011, a Dutch F-16 had to make an emergency landing because of a technical failure of one of its sets of landing gear. The plane landed on its belly. The pilot did not suffer any injuries.
* On 9 February 2013, a small
Cessna
Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufacturing c ...
plane crashed near the runway after suffering technical problems during take-off, killing all 5 people on board. The airport was closed for about six hours before resuming services.
See also
*
Brussels Airport
Brussels Airport, nl, Luchthaven Brussel, vls, Vliegpling Brussel, german: Flughafen Brüssel is an international airport northeast of Brussels, the capital of Belgium. In 2019, more than 26 million passengers arrived or departed at Bruss ...
*
Transportation in Belgium
References
Notes
External links
*
{{authority control
Buildings and structures in Charleroi
Transport in Charleroi
Airports in Hainaut (province)
Airports in Brussels
Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Belgium
World War II airfields in Belgium
Airports established in 1919
1919 establishments in Belgium