Brussels Charleroi Airport

For many travelers, Charleroi is just the “other” Brussels airport, the one with the shuttle bus and the cheap tickets. For spotters, there is more behind it. In Gosselies, Ryanair opened its first base on the European mainland in 2001 and tested a model that dozens of regional airports in Europe later adopted. Today, Charleroi is the second-largest passenger airport in Belgium after Zaventem, with a single runway, two terminals and a dense schedule that brings in almost nothing but Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s. Add an industrial history that goes back to 1919.

From flight school to industrial site

Aviation in Gosselies begins in 1919 with a flight school on a plateau north of Charleroi. A year later, aircraft are already being maintained there, and in 1931 the British manufacturer Fairey founds its Belgian subsidiary Avions Fairey at the airfield. That sets the direction: Gosselies becomes known less as a commercial airport than as the factory airfield of the Belgian aviation industry.

In the Second World War, the Allies used the site after the liberation from September 1944 to August 1945 as an advanced landing ground with the designation A-87. After the war, the industry kept growing. In 1954, SABCA opened a second plant in Gosselies, and in 1978 Sonaca was founded, taking over Fairey’s activities. Both companies are still on site today: Sonaca makes structural components for civil and military aircraft, including for Airbus and Embraer, while SABCA maintains, among other things, F-16 fighter aircraft.

Scheduled traffic, by contrast, stayed modest for a long time. A Sabena connection from Liège via Charleroi to London was discontinued in the 1970s for lack of demand – the then national airline Sabena concentrated entirely on Brussels. The turnaround only came when Wallonia took over the management of its airports in the early 1990s and founded the operating company Brussels South Charleroi Airport (BSCA) on July 9, 1991.

Ryanair and the name “Brussels South”

In 1997, Ryanair launches the route from Dublin to Charleroi. The airport is marketed as “Brussels South Charleroi” – a name that makes it feel closer to the capital for travelers than it actually is. In 2001, Ryanair opens its first base on the European mainland in Charleroi. For the airline, it is the test run for expansion on the continent; for Charleroi, the start of growth that continues to this day.

You know the model behind it from many regional airports: low fees, fast turnarounds, a uniform fleet and an airport whose main aim is to save costs. How this business model works is explained in the article How low-cost carriers work.

It did not all go smoothly. The European Commission examined the advantages Ryanair had received from Wallonia and the airport and ruled in 2004 that they were unlawful state aid. In December 2008, the EU General Court annulled that decision, and in 2012 the Commission reopened the proceedings. The case is still seen as a landmark dispute over how far public airports may accommodate low-cost airlines.

Two terminals, one runway

With growth, the old handling area in the south quickly became too small. In January 2008, the new Terminal 1 entered service, designed for up to five million passengers a year. Because even that was not enough, Terminal 2 followed in January 2017, mainly absorbing peak times. The old terminal with the tower in the south now serves mainly general aviation and business jets.

The runway itself is the bottleneck – and also the project that has changed the airport most recently. In 2009, Charleroi got a Category III instrument landing system, which allows landings even in very poor visibility. In May 2019, work began on an extension of 650 meters, which was inaugurated in October 2021. Since then, the runway has been about 3,200 meters long.

Important for planning: in many spotter guides written a few years ago, the runway is still called 07/25. The new designation 06/24 describes the same runway. The article on runway designations provides background on runway numbers.

Ryanair and Wizz Air shape the picture

Anyone watching the sky in Charleroi mainly sees one thing: Ryanair’s blue-and-yellow jets. The airline provides most of the departures and serves a dense network across Europe and to Morocco from here. On the apron stand mainly the Boeing 737-800 and the newer Boeing 737-8-200, which you recognize by the extra emergency exits behind the wing. How to tell the 737 generations apart is shown in the article Telling the Boeing 737 Original, Classic, NG and MAX apart.

The second big force is Wizz Air, which has flown in Charleroi since 2004. The Hungarians connect the airport mainly with Central and Southeast Europe, for example with Bucharest, Budapest, Sofia or Tirana. With its Airbus A320, A320neo and A321neo, Wizz Air provides the Airbus share in otherwise Boeing-heavy traffic. The differences within the family are explained in the article Telling the A318, A319, A320 and A321 apart reliably.

Smaller operators are added. Pegasus Airlines flies to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen and Antalya, while Morocco routes are served mainly by Ryanair. Seasonally, Volotea with destinations in France and Air Corsica with Corsica flights are on the list. The offering is broad but not set in stone – which airline serves which route changes with every schedule change. Which season brings which routes is explained in the article on the summer and winter schedule.

Growth in numbers

Passenger numbers show how consistently Charleroi has bet on low-cost traffic. In 2019, the airport counted about 8.2 million passengers. In the pandemic year 2020, volume collapsed to about 2.6 million, and in 2022, at about 8.3 million, it was back at pre-crisis levels. In 2023 it was about 9.4 million, and in 2024 more than ten million for the first time.

For you as a spotter, that means: boredom rarely sets in, because a lot happens on a normal day. At the same time, the type mix is narrow. If you are specifically looking for rare registrations or special liveries, you still get your money’s worth here, because with so many movements, many different aircraft from the big fleets land over the course of a day.

More than low-cost: industry, business jets and military guests

Away from the scheduled jets, Charleroi has a few special features. Business jets land at the old terminal in the south, and several flight schools provide light aircraft in the traffic pattern. Because Sonaca and SABCA are on site, aircraft you would not expect at a pure low-cost airport also turn up occasionally – such as military aircraft on their way to maintenance.

Charleroi is still not a military airfield. Military visits are rare and hard to plan. If you catch one, the same applies as everywhere: photographing from public paths is customary, while factory entrances and secured areas are off limits. The article Is plane spotting legal? summarizes what is allowed and what is not.

Spotting in Charleroi: the known vantage points

Unlike in Zaventem, Charleroi has no official spotting platform. The scene therefore uses public roads and paths around the airport. According to reports from the community, some older vantage points are now closed or restricted, such as a popular spot in Ransart that disappeared behind a security barrier after a fire nearby. So check before your visit whether your preferred spot is still accessible.

Rue d’Heppignies (approach 24): The classic for landings in west operations. From the sidewalk, you see aircraft on final approach. The light works from about 8 a.m. into the early afternoon. At the roundabout with the gas station further along the road, you get light from the right side on long summer days in the late afternoon and evening. Parking on the street is not allowed – use official parking lots.

Bus station west of the terminal: From a slightly elevated position, you look over the fence at the apron, taxiways and runway. Here you see pushbacks, taxi traffic, landings on 24 and takeoffs on 06. The light works in summer mainly in the early evening. The advantage: you reach the spot by bus and have restrooms and food in the terminal.

Chaussée de Bruxelles (N5, approach 06): With east wind, the first choice for approaches to 06. With a ladder, from early afternoon you also see the line-up on 06. You can park at nearby shops, or reach the spot by bus or tram.

Rue des Fusillés: A quiet stretch of road for landings on 06. You cannot see the runway itself from here, but you see the approaches well. The light works here from morning into the early afternoon.

There are separate articles on the fence and the ladder: Shooting through the fence and Ladder, step and tripod at the airport fence. In summer, the air often shimmers over the asphalt – the article Avoiding heat haze has tips against that.

Light, daily rhythm and getting there

The runway runs roughly from west-southwest to east-northeast. On the approach to 24 at the Rue d’Heppignies, you have good light in the morning and around midday; in the evening you are better off switching to the bus station or the Rue Santos-Dumont. You can plan where the sun will be on your date with the article on the sun position at the photo spot.

Traffic follows the typical low-cost rhythm. In the morning, the jets based here depart in a dense wave, then the aircraft return over the course of the day and turn around quickly. Nights are largely quiet; older spotter guides mention an operating pause between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., but check the current rules on site. In summer, leisure flights add a bit more activity.

You can reach the terminal well without a car: from Charleroi-Central station, a TEC airport bus runs to the airport in about 20 minutes, and from Brussels there are shuttle buses from Brussels-Midi. The vantage points away from the terminal, by contrast, are tedious on foot because fences block the direct way. More in the article Getting to the spot.

Charleroi compared

Within Belgium, Charleroi complements the other airports perfectly. Brussels Zaventem Airport offers network airlines, long-haul, military and official platforms such as the Steenokkerzeel spotter zone. Liège Airport is the country’s cargo airport, with the spotter area at Liège Airport as a fitting destination. The small Ostend-Bruges Airport on the coast rounds off a Belgium tour.

Compared with other low-cost airports, Charleroi plays in a league of its own. Eindhoven Airport in the Netherlands relies on a similar model, and from a German perspective Weeze Airport, Frankfurt-Hahn Airport and Memmingen Airport are obvious comparisons. None of them reaches Charleroi’s passenger numbers, though.

Conclusion

Brussels Charleroi Airport is the textbook example of a low-cost airport that grew big. From an industrial and factory airfield with roots in 1919, Ryanair and Wizz Air made an airport with more than ten million passengers a year. The type variety is modest, but the frequency is high, and business jets, military guests or the industry on site occasionally provide variety.

For spotters, preparation matters most: check the runway direction in use, keep the new runway designation in mind, clarify access to the vantage points and choose the light to suit the time of day.