Brussels, 22 March 2016: the airport risk that starts before security

Intelligence Desk | 22 October 2026

Bottom line up front: The 2016 Brussels bombings showed that the most crowded part of an airport trip can be the part before the screening line. Travel plans and protective movements should treat public terminal areas as a planned exposure, not a transit formality.

What happened

On 22 March 2016, bombings struck Brussels Airport and Maelbeek metro station in the same morning. Per Wikipedia's summary of BBC reporting, 35 people died (32 victims and 3 perpetrators) and 340 were injured. The devices were nail bombs filled with TATP. Islamic State claimed the attacks.

So what

Travelers: The public side of an airport, where queues form for check-in and bag drop, is where people bunch up with luggage and little ability to move. The risk is low in probability but high in consequence, and time spent there is the variable you control.

Event organizers: Arrival and departure hubs are part of your attendee risk picture. Large groups arriving on the same flights concentrate in the same public spaces.

EP teams: Principals are often most predictable and most exposed at the curb, in the check-in hall and in the transfer to the vehicle. Metro and rail links near the airport add a second soft point, as the same-morning Maelbeek attack showed.

What to do

1. Reduce time in public terminal areas: online check-in, pre-arranged bag handling, fast-track or private-terminal options where appropriate.

2. Identify exits, secure areas and a rally point on arrival, and brief them to the group.

3. Keep alternate ground transport ready so a closed metro or rail link does not strand a team.

4. Set a reassessment trigger: if an incident occurs anywhere on the itinerary, review other transport nodes the same day.

5. Confirm travelers' family or office contact process before departure.

Sources

- 2016 Brussels bombings, Wikipedia (casualty figures citing BBC News), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Brussels_bombings

- Brussels attacks: Trial begins over 2016 attacks that killed 32, BBC News, 5 December 2022, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-63834777

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