My visit to Brussels Airport - Main contents
This week I visited Brussels Airport, following the reopening of the departures hall, which was damaged during the attacks last month.
The airport is now operating at 80% of its capacity and the staff is doing everything in their power to allow the passengers to travel to their destinations smoothly and in a secure environment. The reopening of the hall is an important moment and is a strong sign for all its users that Brussels Airport is getting back to normality.
I would like to thank the airport's CEO, Mr Arnaud Feist for his invitation to visit the airport and see all the improvements made in the space of 6 weeks. I came to pay my respects to all the victims of the March 22 attacks. All my thoughts are with their families, their friends and with all of those who were left wounded. I also came to express my support and admiration to all the employees of Brussels Airport and to the European airport community. They worked tirelessly to restart operations within days of the attacks.
I also discussed the security measures in place at Brussels Airport, how they are going to be improved to make it more efficient for travellers and what is being done at EU level. My opinion is that transport should remain open and accessible to the travelling public, with the highest possible level of security. I have a very high degree of trust in the levels of aviation security in Europe - after all, it is among the best in the world. Given the threats the world is facing in the recent years, we have to ensure that the European airports remain safe for all passengers and employees. However, we must also ensure that despite all the necessary security measures, people are able to travel freely, as much as possible without additional hassles and delays. This will be an important point on the agenda of the upcoming Council meeting of EU Transport Ministers in June.
Ta teden sem po ponovnem odprtju potniškega terminala, ki je bil marca poškodovan v terorističnih napadih, obiskala bruseljsko letališče. Letališče sedaj obratuje z 80% zmogljivostjo in zaposleni delajo vse, kar je v njihovi moči, da potnikom zagotovijo nemoteno potovanje. Ponovno odprtje terminala je močem signal, da se bruseljsko letališče vrača k normalnemu delovanju.
Rada bi se zahvalila predsedniku letališča g. Arnaudu Feistu, ki me je povabil, da si iz prve roke ogledam stanje na letališču in dela, ki so bila narejena v zadnjem mesecu. Prišla sem se poklonit žrtvam napadov 22. marca. V mislih sem z njihovimi družinami, prijatelji in vsemi prizadetimi. Prav tako sem prišla izrazit veliko podporo letališkim delavcem in evropski letalski skupnosti, ki so s skupnim delovanjem in velikimi odrekanji zagotovili, da je letališče v dnevih po napadu ker se da hitro ponovno zaživelo.
Z gospodom Feistom sem se pogovarjala tudi o varnostnih ukrepih na bruseljskem letališču ter delovanju EU na tem področju. Moje mnenje je, da mora promet tudi ob zagotavljanju najvišjih možnih varnostnih ukrepov ostati prijazen do uporabnikov, potnikov. V evropsko letalsko varnost, v letalske družbe in letališča, imam zelo visoko stopnjo zaupanja - nenazadnje smo tukaj med najboljšimi na svetu. Glede na grožnje, ki se v zadnjih letih pojavljajo v svetu moramo zagotoviti, da evropska letališča tudi v prihodnje ostanejo varna za potnike in osebje. Ob tem pa moramo paziti, da vsi potrebni varnostni ukrepi potnikov ne ovirajo in da jih ti čim manj občutijo. Ljudje morajo kljub poostrenemu varovanju svobodno potovati, brez nepotrebnih nevšečnosti in zamud. To bo pomembna točka razprave na prihajajočem junijskem srečanju Sveta prometnih ministrov EU.
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