Passengers stranded at Brussels Airport due to drone sighting

On Tuesday, the 4th of November, Brussels Airport had to suspend their activity for a few hours due to a drone sighting in the area. 

What exactly happened?

Around 20:00 on Tuesday 5/11, a drone had been sighted near the Brussels Zaventem and Liège airports. Air traffic controllers had to suspend plane arrivals and departures due to the danger that drones pose to ongoing flights. They suspended around 80 flights throughout the evening. They halted flights at two intervals: first around 20:00 and a second time around 22:00. 

Air traffic was also halted at the second largest airport in Belgium, Charleroi, as a precaution. 

These drone sightings have become a regular occurrence over the past months throughout Europe, with another one sighted over a Belgian military base over the weekend. 

What happened to the passengers?

The incident left between 400 to 500 passengers stranded at the airport, forcing them to spend the night at the airport. Furthermore, some arriving flights were diverted to nearby  airports, such as Schiphol, Eindhoven, Lille, and Ostend. 

What can you do as a passenger in this situation?

Passengers are protected by the EU 261/2004 regulations. This allows passengers to claim compensation for flights that were delayed or cancelled. However, there is an umbrella of circumstances that don’t allow for financial compensation: extraordinary circumstances. These come into play when the airline is not responsible for the disturbance to the flight. Disruptions caused by drone sightings do not fall under the EU261 jurisdiction and protection. Therefore, claiming compensation in this case would probably not lead to a positive result. 

However, as a passenger, you are entitled to:

• Food and drink reimbursement
• Communication facilities (such as internet connection or a telephone line) to contact family, or arrange hotel accommodations
• Hotel accommodation and transportation reimbursement
• Rebooking or refund of your flight.

It is important that you keep your receipts in these events so that you can adequately claim your money for unforeseen expenses in case of disturbances to your flight.

Check your flight with AirRefund:

While passengers cannot claim compensation for this specific incident, you might be able to get money for another disrupted flight.

If you had a delayed or cancelled flight within the last few years, check if you are eligible and submit a compensation claim with AirRefund. It takes only a few minutes and, according to the European law, you might be able to get as much as 600 euro per passenger!

About AirRefund

AirRefund is part of Yource B.V., a European group specializing in defending the rights of air passengers. Since its founding in 2010, Yource has helped over one million travelers obtain compensation for delayed, canceled, and overbooked flights. Our other brands include Flight-Delayed.com, Vlucht-Vertraagd.nl, and Flug-Verspaetet.de.