Brussels South Charleroi Airport, the second largest airport in Belgium and a key hub for low-cost carriers Ryanair and Wizz Air, is set to shut down for 11 weeks during the summer of 2028. The closure will run from August 15 to October 31, 2028, for a major runway refurbishment project.
Runway resurfacing and costs
The airport's sole 3,200-metre runway will be completely resurfaced at a cost of €50 million (£42.8 million). The work is scheduled by SOWAER, the regional airport operator, to ensure the airport's long-term safety, operational performance, and attractiveness. The runway has an estimated lifespan of 25 years. To minimise disruption duration, various construction projects will be carried out simultaneously, requiring a temporary suspension of air traffic.
Impact on airlines and routes
Ryanair, which has a base at Charleroi, operates flights to destinations including Tirana, Vienna, Sarajevo, Sofia, Zagreb, Prague, and Barcelona. Wizz Air also serves routes to Skopje, Warsaw, Bucharest, Budapest, and Pristina. Seasonal flights are offered by Air Arabia and Air Corsica to Oujda, Ajaccio, Bastia, Calvi, and Figari. In 2024, the busiest route was to Bucharest, Romania, with 343,858 passengers, followed by Tirana, Bergamo, Budapest, and Manchester. No direct flights to London operate from Charleroi; those are served by Brussels Airport.
According to reports in The Sun, all existing flights will need to be diverted, though interim plans are still limited. Trade unions have expressed dissatisfaction, questioning whether all routes will return after the closure.
Regulatory considerations
Charleroi Airport, like London Heathrow, operates under the European Commission's use-it-or-lose-it slot regulation, requiring airlines to maintain at least 80% of take-off and landing slots. However, exceptions exist when an airport or airspace is closed, making it impossible to fulfil the quota. This exception is expected to apply during the closure.
Airport statement
A spokesperson for Charleroi Airport told Metro: 'A complete refurbishment of Charleroi Airport’s sole runway (which has an estimated lifespan of 25 years), together with other major infrastructure modernisation works, has been scheduled by SOWAER for the second half of 2028. These investments are intended to ensure the airport’s long-term safety, operational performance and attractiveness. To minimise the overall duration of the disruption, the various construction projects will be carried out simultaneously. This will require a temporary suspension of air traffic during the works. We are currently working closely with all stakeholders to plan these projects, identify operational constraints and manage their impacts.'
Other airport closures
Charleroi is not the only airport closure announced this year. Coventry Airport in the West Midlands closed its doors last month after 90 years of service. It once hosted Wizz Air flights to European destinations until 2008, but recently served only the Air Ambulance Service and private charters. Alderney Airport in the Channel Islands is also undergoing a runway revamp, widening its 877-metre runway by five metres and updating lighting systems to improve operations in poor weather.
