The people travelling from Belgium to the United States should expect tighter airport security in the future, which will only begin in 2024.
The change is related to a bill passed by the federal parliament last week that addresses the subject of ‘preclearance.’ In other words, people travelling to the United States go through the same security inspections at Zaventem as they would at their final destination.
The strategy has advantages in that it shifts delays from the place of origin to the point of departure, in this example, in Belgium, where passengers are typically detained in limbo between passport clearance and boarding.
According to spokesman Nathalie Pierrard, the airport eagerly anticipates the transformation, but it will take time.
Not only does the move necessitate the installation of new infrastructure at the airport, but it also necessitates the transfer of US customs personnel to Belgium and their familiarisation with the processes.
According to a source at the airport reported by authorities, the question of who would pay for the improvements necessary to implement the new system, which is likely to cost several million euros, remains unanswered.
The new system will not only be expensive, but it will also take a long time to implement — at the earliest, 2024, despite the fact that the notion was initially floated in May 2015, when eleven airports, including Brussels, were chosen as preclearance candidates. Only Dublin has been able to put the system into action out in those airports, which include Amsterdam, Madrid, Tokyo, and Istanbul.
Despite the delays, which the Covid epidemic has lately compounded, Brussels is expected to be the next to implement the preclearance system, though not before 2024. The system is currently operational in Aruba, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Canada, Abu Dhabi, and Ireland.
