Brussel South Charleroi, or sometimes called Gosselies Airport, is the second busiest airport in Belgium, after Zaventem International Airport, with over 7 million passengers a year. South Charleroi is a popular airport with low-cost / budget airlines and is a major base for Ryanair, Wizz Air en Tui.
Before the arrival of Ryanair in 1997, connecting Charleroi with Dublin, the airport was hardly used at all. The decision of Ryanair in 2001 to make Charleroi its first continental hub has seen in surge in passengers and building activity at Charleroi Airport.
Brussels South Charleroi Airport is not a large airport so there are not many flights departing here. There are only a few destinations that you can reach from Brussels South Charleroi Airport, most of these are operated by Ryanair. Many people take a flight to Marrakech and transfer to another flight there.
Brussel South Charleroi Airport has two terminals. Terminal 1 was opened in 2008 and has a capacity of 5 million passengers a year, reaching that in just a few years. In January 2017 a new terminal opened, Terminal 2 which lies adjacent to Terminal 1. All facilities are present here, even a pharmacy and baggage depot.
The airport is located just 7 km north of the city of Charleroi in the Walloon Region of Belgium and around 60 km south of Brussels.
The airport is located 60 km south of Brussels city center and is mostly used by low-cost airlines. Getting to Brussels can be bit expensive and it can take a while.
City Shuttle buses (1 hour travel time, depart every 30 minute for 5 euro if bought online) run between the airport and Brussels Midi/Zuid/Southern train station. At the Midi station you can switch to the Metro system or to a EuroStar or Thalys train. Be aware when you go to the airport that there can be a long queue and traffic can be heavy, so count in extra time for that.
Taxi's from the airport into the city cost a fixed 90 euro, while taking a taxi to the airport from Brussels costs a fixed price of 120 euro. Better take the fixed rate as insisting on using the meter can cost up to 170 euro.
All prices quoted here were found in July 2017
