Flights have resumed at Brussels Zaventem airport, 12 days after terror attacks killed 16 people.
A Brussels Airlines flight to Portugal departed on Sunday (April 3) afternoon. This was followed by flights to Turin, Italy and Athens, Greece.
"These flights are the first hopeful sign from an airport that is standing up straight after a cowardly attack," airport CEO Arnaud Feist said.
Brussels Airlines CEO Bernard Gustin said: "While our thoughts remain deeply with the great human suffering, our colleagues do their utmost to bring our passengers to their destination."
A provisional infrastructure has been completed which allows the airport to receive 800 departing passengers an hour, or 2.5 million departing passengers – around 20 per cent of the normal capacity.
Arriving passengers will go through the usual baggage reclaim and arrivals in the terminal. This zone was only slightly damaged and has since been restored for use.
Strict new safety measures have been put in place following discussions with local police with passengers being asked to arrive three hours before departure. The terminal is also still closed to trains and buses.
The airport has been closed since March 22 when two suicide bombers blew themselves up in the departure hall.