Phil Serafino
Flights in and out of Brussels were canceled and security precautions were stepped up at travel hubs around Europe after a bombing in the Belgian capital’s airport.
Travelers should avoid the airport, which is being evacuated, according to the hub’s Twitter feed. Some air traffic due to arrive this morning was redirected to the eastern city of Liege, according to Belgian broadcaster RTL.
Security has been reinforced at Paris airports and delays are expected, Aeroports de Paris, which operates the hubs, said in a statement on its website. The high-speed Thalys train that runs between Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam is running normally, as is the Eurostar line serving Paris, London and Brussels, according to Twitter feeds from the rail services. Controls may take longer at check-in, Eurostar said.
The bombing, four days after the arrest in Brussels of a suspect in the November terrorist attacks in Paris, sent shares of European airlines lower. Ryanair Holdings Plc dropped 3.6 percent, Air France-KLM Group declined 4.3 percent and International Consolidated Airlines Group SA, the parent of British Airways and Iberia, lost 4.8 percent.
Bloomberg
