Brussels Airport Queue Crisis Sparks Federal-Regional Clash

(MENAFN) Chronic border control delays at Brussels Airport have spilled beyond the terminal and into the political arena, igniting a blame war between federal and regional authorities over who bears responsibility for the persistent congestion.

Belgian Interior Minister Bernard Quintin pushed back on Monday against the notion that understaffing alone is driving the bottlenecks, pointing instead to the airport's physical constraints as an equally significant factor, according to a broadcaster.

"Saying that the long queues are solely due to the staff shortage is incorrect. ... There are only 6 booths, with room for a maximum of 12 officers," he said, noting that each officer handles roughly 50 passengers per hour.

Infrastructure Gap at the Heart of the Row
Brussels Airport, in which the Flemish government holds a stake as its largest shareholder, is now facing calls to expand its border processing capacity. The matter is expected to come before the next Consultative Committee meeting, where stakeholders will be pressed to agree on a path forward.

Airport director Arnaud Feist had already sounded the alarm, cautioning that the ongoing situation carries tangible risks — both to passenger safety and to the airport's wider reputation.

The dispute has sharpened the divide between federal and Flemish authorities. Flemish Minister-President Matthias Diependaele underlined the airport's critical role as an economic engine for the region, while Quintin continued to resist the narrative that a headcount problem alone accounts for the chaos.

Union Voices and Tech Complications Add to the Pressure
Worker representatives have framed the crisis as layered and complex, citing not only inadequate infrastructure but also the inefficient deployment of the border officers already on the ground.

Adding another dimension to the slowdown, unions flagged that newly introduced biometric screening — encompassing both fingerprint scanning and facial recognition — has substantially increased the time required to process each traveler, further straining an already stretched system.

The congestion has been compounded by the rollout of the EU's new Entry/Exit System, which mandates that non-bloc travelers register personal and biometric data upon crossing the border. The requirement has contributed directly to lengthening queues and, in some cases, flight delays at the airport.

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