Airport Shutdown Costs Brussels Air 5 Mln Euros A Day

The closure of its Brussels hub is costing Brussels Airlines EUR€5 million (USD$5.6 million) in daily costs after last week's attacks.

Expenses from re-routing passenger traffic and from lost revenues are weighing on the bottom line, a Brussels Airlines spokesman said.

Belgium's regional airports in Antwerp and Liege offer only limited short-haul capacity as an alternative, he said.

Brussels airport is trying out a make-shift check-in area that could allow a limited restart of passenger flights in coming days to end the airport's shutdown after suicide bombers struck a week ago.

Brussels Airlines last week restarted some commercial flights from Belgium via Liege and Antwerp.

Separately, Lufthansa said it cancelled all flights to Brussels from March 31 until April 3, instead offering a shuttle bus service between Brussels and Frankfurt airport and some flights from Liege.

Between March 22 and April 3, 265 Lufthansa flights will have been cancelled, it said.