Travelling with assistance

If you require Special Assistance, make sure that you have contacted your airline or travel agency to arrange special assistance at Brussels Airport. This should be done latest 48 hours before the scheduled departure time. Also inform them if you bring and use your own collapsible or powered wheelchair. Please ask them about special arrangements or any rules that may apply.

Plan your route to the Airport. When a family member will drop you off at the airport please use the Drop-Off area. This can be used for 10mins free of charge. From here it is a 250m walk to the terminal.

If you travel to the airport in your own car, you can leave it in one of the car parks while you’re away. Every car park has dedicated parking spaces marked with the customary disabled parking only sign. These spaces are located as closely as possible to the entrance to the terminal. Don't forget to display your official disabled parking permit.

When you arrive at the airport, please make sure that you go to the check-in desk first to receive your boarding pass. You will need to present it at the (Special) Assistance Welcome Desk, located next to check-in row 1.

If you require special assistance but can’t get to the check-in or (Special) Assistance Welcome Desk in the departures hall yourself, there are several PRM Help Points with intercom at the airport. You can find them in the following locations:

• Car parks: Car park P2 level 2 (departures).
• Drop-off zone next to the ticket machine, near the 4 parking spaces for the disabled.
• Bus station at platform C
• Train station near the elevators. 

It is important that you always present yourself at the (Special) Assistance Welcome Desk. Our PRM Assistance agents will welcome you and register your assistance according to your needs. The (Special) Assistance Welcome Desk is located next to check-in row 1 in de departures hall. 

On departure, you can get help to travel through the airport from the time you arrive until you take your seat on board the aircraft. It is important that you inform the staff of your presence at the airport. You can either contact them via the PRM call points or by presenting yourself at the (Special) Assistance Welcome desk.

PRM service staff are ready to assist you with:

• Travelling from a specific arrival location at Brussels Airport to the check-in desk
• Checking in you and your luggage
• Taking you from the check-in desk to the (Special) Assistance Welcome Desk
• Helping you through security screening and passport control and help you get to the aircraft
• Accessing lavatories
• Boarding an aircraft with the assistance of a wheelchair, ambulift or other assistance as appropriate
• Stowing hand luggage on board the aircraft

It is best to put this in your hand luggage and not in the hold luggage:

• valuables such as money or jewellery;
• important documents, prescriptions or medication. 

Liquids and gels

For security reasons, the amount of liquids and gels you can carry in your hand luggage is strictly limited. However, these liquids and gels are permitted:

• packs of maximum 100ml in a transparent re-sealable plastic bag with a total volume of maximum 1L. 
• Liquids that you bought in the shops at the airport. The purchased liquids are packed in a special sealed bag. You may only open this bag at your destination

On arrival, or in transit, you are entitled to assistance to help you travel from your seat on the aircraft to your next means of transportation within the airport area.

PRM service staff will assist you with:  

• Retrieving your hand luggage
• Disembarking from the aircraft with assistance from a wheelchair, Ambulift,...
• Accessing lavatories
• Proceeding from the aircraft through passport control if appropriate
• Retrieving luggage and passing through customs
• Transferring from the arrivals hall to your next means of transportation within the airport grounds
• Catching a connecting flight. 

The EU1107/2006 Regulation (applicable to all EU airports) grants full accessibility to air travel without any discrimination nor additional costs for disabled passengers or passengers with a reduced mobility. No one can refuse your booking or boarding on the basis of your disability or reduced mobility. The only exeption applies to potential safety related problems connected to national or international regulations or technical impediments, for instance concerning the size of the aircraft. For flights within the EU, if no technical issue prevents it, and provided that a prior 48-hour notification was made, airlines must carry medical equipment and 2 mobility aids, such as wheelchairs or crutches, without any additional charges. 

Did you book your PRM service in advance through your Airline or travel agency and did you report to us upon arrival at the airport? We aim to meet 80% of all passengers within ten minutes of their arrival at the airport. The maximum waiting time never exceeds 30 minutes. For passengers who have not booked our service in advance, our waiting times are generally between 25 and no more than 45 minutes.

Airlines use international codes to identify the type of assistance PRM passengers must be provided with. The following are the codes in use:

• WCHR: for passengers who cannot walk long distances.
• WCHS: for passengers who cannot walk up and down stairs.
• WCHC: for passengers who cannot walk.
• DEAF: for passengers who have a hearing impairment or are totally deaf.
• BLND: for passengers who have impaired vision, are blind and/or blind and unable to speak.
• DEAF/BLND: for passengers who have a combined sight and hearing impairment.
• DPNA: for passengers who have intellectual or development impairments.

Do you still have questions or concerns?

Please consult the FAQ Persons Reduced Mobility for more information.