Angry passengers block terminal after being ‘stranded’ at Brussels Airport

Angry group’s flight was grounded due to a technical issue

Angry passengers were spotted blocking access to a terminal at Brussels Airport on Thursday (8 December), after their flight was diverted back to its departure point.

The incident occurred after Brussels Airlines flight SN369 to Douala, Cameroon was forced to divert back to Brussels after a technical issue was detected 30 minutes into the journey.

After circling the airport for nearly three hours to burn off fuel, the flight was able to land at Brussels Airport some four hours after its initial departure.

Many passengers found themselves stranded, with no replacement flight in sight and unable to enter the country, aviation blog One Mile at a Time reported. A crowd of irate customers subsquently blocked the area of the airport between passport control and Terminal B in protest.

Airport spokesperson Nathalie Piérard confirmed the protest, saying: “On Wednesday evening, a Brussels Airlines aircraft (an Airbus A330 registered OO-SFX) destination Cameroon was forced to return to Brussels Airport due to a technical problem.”

“As a result, the aircraft could no longer return to Douala and the news was not well received by some passengers in the transit zone,” Ms Piérard continued.

She added that this caused anger, explaining: “When the passengers discovered that they couldn’t continue their journey on Thursday morning because the flight was fully booked and that they were not allowed to leave the transit area, they decided to block the access of pier B to all passengers.”

Fellow passengers posted photos and video of the mob of protesters on social media, with one video showing what the onlooker described as “riot police” entering the terminal to sort out the situation.

A One Mile at a Time reader sympathised with the protesting group, with one writing: “The passengers are basically being held hostage because of the incompetency of Brussels Airline.

“If that happened to me, I would have no hesitation to disrupt or do whatever (in a group in order not to be arrested) in the hopes that it would force the airline or the Airport authorities to take some action.”

Another disagreed, commenting: “There’s no excuse for what these passengers did, even if the airline screwed them. None. I have zero sympathy for them if they’re going to pull crap like this.”

Reader Jerry also took issue with the move, saying: “Who do these passengers think they are? So entitled. They only care about themselves, and don’t care if their actions disrupt others. They’re behaving like US airline pilots!!”

Brussels Airport declined to comment.

A Brussels Airlines spokesperson said: “As Brussels Airlines has foreseen an additional flight to Douala and Yaoundé today, all passengers of flight SN365 have been able to depart today. The passengers without visa, who were not able to reach our provided hotel accommodation, were assisted by Brussels Airlines in obtaining their transit visa with the authorities so that Brussels Airlines could indeed offer them a hotel for last night.

“Some passengers left to their destination on yesterday’s flight, the remaining passengers all received an alternative to fly to Douala and Yaoundé today.As Brussels Airlines has foreseen an additional flight to Douala and Yaoundé today, all passengers of flight SN365 have been able to depart today.

“The passengers without visa, who were not able to reach our provided hotel accommodation, were assisted by Brussels Airlines in obtaining their transit visa with the authorities so that Brussels Airlines could indeed offer them a hotel for last night. Some passengers left to their destination on yesterday’s flight, the remaining passengers all received an alternative to fly to Douala and Yaoundé today.”