Yesterday at 2PM, Belgian airspace reopened at 20% capacity. In the evening, two trucks carrying power generators arrived at Belgocontrol, allowing the agency to lift capacity back up to 75%. Belgocontrol spokesperson Dominique Dehaene declares that it will stay at this level for at least a couple more days, which means air traffic disruptions are not over yet. Yesterday evening, the agency decided to allow planes to take off until midnight, to at least partly catch up the damage.

There is still a lot of chaos at Brussels Airport. A total of 200 flights have been cancelled. 33 have been diverted to airfields in other countries. About 25,000 passengers remain stranded around the departure hall, many of them have already been there for many hours. Charleroi Airport had to cancel 20 flights, blocking around 10,000 passengers in the Francophone city or in an airport abroad where their flight was redirected to.

“The number of people just keeps growing”, reports Brussels Airport spokesperson Saskia De Schutter. “I’ve seen people sleep outside on the curb. It’s bad. Luckily, everyone’s keeping their cool.” The Red Cross has installed some 200 beds inside the departure hall and 50 in the transit zone, to accommodate beached travellers.