Brussels Airport

BRU EBBR  Brussels, Belgium

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BRU at a glance

  • What it is: Brussels Airport is a major international airport serving Brussels, Belgium.
  • Codes: BRU on your ticket, EBBR on the radar.
  • How busy: the reference profile lists about 23.6 million annual passengers across 3 runways.
  • Right now: 18 aircraft are within 55 km, shown live on the map above.
  • Local time zone: Europe/Brussels (UTC+2), so every time shown for BRU is local rather than UTC.

Aircraft observed near BRU

18 aircraft are within 55 km of BRU right now. This is live ADS-B traffic, not a published timetable: aircraft are classified by what they are physically doing - Climbing out, on approach, or holding at cruise overhead. For gate numbers and scheduled times, check with BRU directly or your airline.

Departing now

FlightOperatorRouteStatusAltitudeSpeed
BEL4VL — route not published on stand or taxiing — —
EIN63K — route not published on stand or taxiing — —
BEL5LC — route not published on stand or taxiing — 15 kts
BOX117 — route not published on stand or taxiing — 2 kts
INSP153 — route not published on stand or taxiing — 25 kts
FIRE012 — route not published on stand or taxiing — 13 kts
DHK179 — route not published on stand or taxiing — 1 kts

Arriving now

FlightOperatorRouteStatusAltitudeSpeed
TRA34B — route not published on approach 1,400 ft 153 kts
KLM1682 KLM Royal Dutch Airlines route not published on approach 25,025 ft 397 kts
BEL5GT — route not published on approach 3,025 ft 187 kts
BEL7JN — route not published on approach 5,050 ft 263 kts
BEL37L — route not published on approach 10,825 ft 393 kts

Overhead and in the area

FlightOperatorRouteStatusAltitudeSpeed
RYR2VJ Ryanair route not published in the area 38,000 ft 432 kts
BAW33 British Airways route not published in the area 30,275 ft 527 kts
TAY9MS — route not published in the area 23,000 ft 432 kts
BAW870 British Airways route not published in the area 38,400 ft 499 kts
TOM1LK — route not published in the area 40,000 ft 410 kts
EXS73WL — route not published in the area 36,000 ft 423 kts
23.6M
Annual passengers (reference)
3
Runways
1
Terminals
184 ft
Field elevation

About BRU

Belgium's main airport at Zaventem, hub of Lufthansa-owned Brussels Airlines and its notable African network. The airport is a major pharmaceutical air-freight centre with specialised cold-chain facilities. It serves the institutions of the European Union, generating heavy business traffic.

Brussels Airport traces its origins to a military airfield the German occupiers built at Melsbroek in 1940, on a plateau northeast of the Belgian capital. After the war, Belgium developed the civil airport on the Zaventem side of the field.

A new terminal opened in 1958 to welcome visitors to Expo 58, the Brussels World's Fair. The airport became the home of Sabena, Belgium's storied flag carrier, whose 2001 bankruptcy was a national trauma. Successor Brussels Airlines, now part of the Lufthansa Group, carries on the hub role.

Modernization continued with a new terminal in 1994 and Pier A in 2002, connected by one of Europe's larger airside complexes. On March 22, 2016, the departure hall was struck by terrorist bombings that killed and injured many. The airport rebuilt and recovered traffic within months, a resilience it commemorates each year.

Alongside passenger flying, Brussels developed Brucargo into one of Europe's leading pharmaceutical air freight centers. During the pandemic the airport became a crucial export node for COVID-19 vaccines produced in Belgium. Today it handles over 22 million passengers annually and serves as Belgium's dominant intercontinental gateway.

How BRU operates today

Brussels Airport operates three runways, two near-parallel (07L/25R and 07R/25L) and the crosswind 01/19, with noise-driven route assignments that are a perennial local political topic. A single terminal feeds Pier A for Schengen flights and Pier B for non-Schengen, with Brussels Airlines running a transfer hub focused on Sub-Saharan Africa, a legacy of Sabena's colonial-era network.

Star Alliance partners, TUI fly Belgium, and Ryanair round out the passenger mix. Brucargo on the airport's north side is one of Europe's premier pharma-cargo platforms, certified for temperature-controlled shipments. The airport's rail station beneath the terminal links directly to Brussels and Antwerp.

Top routes from BRU

DestinationMain airlinesWhy it matters
Madrid (MAD) Brussels Airlines, Iberia, Air Europa A dense link between the EU capital and Spain's hub.
Barcelona (BCN) Brussels Airlines, Vueling One of the airport's busiest leisure and business routes.
Rome (FCO) Brussels Airlines, ITA Airways, Ryanair Connects the EU institutions with Italy's capital.
London (LHR) British Airways, Brussels Airlines A short but strategically vital business corridor alongside the Eurostar.
New York (JFK) Brussels Airlines, Delta Belgium's flagship transatlantic route for business and NATO-EU traffic.

Facts about BRU

  • Brussels Airport is one of the world's leading airports for pharmaceutical air cargo and was a major export hub for COVID-19 vaccines.
  • The airport began as a Luftwaffe airfield built during the German occupation in 1940.
  • Its 1958 terminal was built to welcome the world to Expo 58, the Brussels World's Fair.
  • The airport claims to be one of the largest chocolate sales points in the world thanks to its duty-free shops.

Plane spotting at BRU

A dedicated spotters' platform near runway 25L, provided by the airport, overlooks arrivals and the cargo apron, with Brussels Airlines A330s bound for Africa among the regular highlights. New to spotting? Start with our aircraft identification guide and the world's best spotting airports.

IATA / ICAO
BRU / EBBR
Location
Brussels, Belgium 50.901, 4.486
Time zone
Europe/Brussels
Opened
1940
Hub for
Brussels Airlines
Website
www.brusselsairport.be

Nearby and related airports

Geographically close airports and useful alternatives in Belgium.

CRL Brussels South Charleroi Airport Charleroi, Belgium AMS Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Amsterdam, Netherlands CGN Cologne Bonn Airport Cologne, Germany CDG Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport Paris, France

More airports and guides connected to BRU

How a field like this runs day to day is covered in how airports work. Nearby, Charleroi (CRL) serves the same country. The codes BRU and EBBR are explained in airport codes decoded.

Data sources and review

Reviewed 2026-07-29 by Flight-Tracker.net Editorial Team

Passenger, runway, terminal and hub figures are maintained as a reviewed reference snapshot, not a live operational record. Check the airport directly before travelling.

Read our airport data sourcing and review process, or inspect the machine-readable reference dataset.

Frequently asked questions about BRU

What is the airport code for Brussels Airport?

Brussels Airport uses the IATA code BRU on tickets and baggage tags, and the ICAO code EBBR in flight plans and on radar. The leading “E” in EBBR is the region marker: ICAO codes are grouped geographically, which is why airports near each other usually share their first letter or two while their IATA codes look unrelated.

How many runways does BRU have?

Brussels Airport operates 3 runways across 1 passenger terminal. The field sits at 184 ft above sea level.

How busy is BRU?

This reference profile lists roughly 23.6 million annual passengers for Brussels Airport. You can see aircraft observed departing, arriving and overhead on this page, taken from live ADS-B broadcasts.

What time zone is BRU in?

Brussels Airport operates on Europe/Brussels local time. Scheduled departure and arrival times for this airport are always published in local time, not UTC.

How many terminals does BRU have?

This reference lists Brussels Airport with 1 passenger terminal. Check the airport or operating airline for the terminal assigned to a specific flight.

Can I track flights at BRU live?

Yes. The map on this page shows every aircraft broadcasting its position within about 55 km of Brussels Airport, and there are 18 in range as this page loaded. The boards split them into departures, arrivals and traffic passing overhead, all timed in Europe/Brussels.