SN 2105 London Heathrow - Brussels
6 November 2024 8:45 pm

With a rare good weather forecast, I wanted to head over to Belgium for a last-minute trip. This would have been perfect for a Eurostar Snap booking, which has discount tickets for imminent departures if they have leftover seats, but their website can't confirm the train times but require payment first so a 3-day trip could turn into 1 full day of sightseeing only, or worse yet, allocate their earliest departure which would be impossible for me to take. Prices weren't too cheap either at just shy of 100 pounds roundtrip.
With a 65 minute flight time, it's only about half that of the train, so I can imagine why the Eurostar can be a better choice if you start in central London and pay a premium for that.
Searching for flights, I was a bit surprised Brussels Airlines came on the radar with a roundtrip at just under 130 pounds for Economy without checked baggage. The departure times were good with an early morning flight out of London and an evening return from Brussels. They're a part of the Lufthansa group and a new airline to experience.
The easy journey to the airport ...
I had taken the Line 12 bus from the airport to the city a few days earlier. With fairly frequent departures and decently comfortable buses, I chose it again for my journey back to the airport. Unlike the inbound trip which costed 7.5 euros, the outbound is heaps cheaper at only 2.2 euros since they don't levy the airport surcharge. This is far cheaper than the train option while taking just a little longer.
Worried about rush hour traffic and because the sun sets early with winter arriving, I started my journey to the airport quite early at just past 5pm. I plan to explore the terminal and its chocolate shops air-side as well as have dinner.
Luckily, there was no rush hour traffic and I reached the terminal in about half an hour only.

Buses arrive on the ground floor and escalators quickly take me up to the 3rd floor for departures.

The retro terminal ...
The terminal screams retro in design with low ceilings and a fairly claustrophobic feeling. However, with only a backpack on hand due to my super cheap Economy ticket, I wouldn't even need to visit the counter but just the kiosk to print out my boarding pass.

Similar to the kiosks at Heathrow, it spits out a supermarket receipt quality boarding pass. I guess nobody in Europe uses a thicker paper card anymore.

Heading for the exit, there is a nice public space with vegetation and benches. Strangely, I didn't see the car drop-off while neighbouring buildings are office or hotel towers.

I noticed an extension at the far end of the terminal and headed over for a look. Not all the rows seem to be in operation but it is noticeably brighter and more airy. A long line snaked out of Ethiopian Airlines' counters but I think they're the only ones here for now.

Going air-side ...
Without much inspiration here, I headed through security to check out air-side. It was quite crowded and the machines are still the old type that required me to unload my laptop.
However, it seems most are flying within the EU zone. Right after security, non-Schengen passengers are directed to the right for exit immigration. There was barely a line and I was through in no time.
Afterwards, it's time for duty-free shopping. I took aim at the huge chocolate section, where I could find the typical famous brands such as Neuhaus and Leonidas. Prices seem competitive to the city but they offer larger boxes or gift packs here.

Exiting the large duty free shop, I noticed another food shop across the hall which sold cheese, cold cuts, and pate.

Besides the huge chocolate selection inside the duty-free shop, I noticed another purely chocolate-themed store. This one looks more like the city centre shops with a pick-your-own box counter which the duty-free next door didn't have. The counters are segregated by brand and I noticed 3 here. I like these more than the pre-packed boxes as I'm a bit picky with my chocolate although all Belgian brands I've tried so far have been really good.

I somewhat regretted buying chocolate in the city given the airport selection so I continued to explore where to eat dinner. The bars offer good Belgian beers but there wasn't much in terms of hot food besides sandwiches.

I ended up picking a British Japanese food brand to have a fairly unsatisfying chicken rice that set me back over 14 euros. In retrospect, I should've had more mussels in the city for an early dinner instead of coming to the airport so early.

The gates are a bit of a walk away from the shopping area. As you head down the corridor, keep an eye out for the self-serve travel water. Drop a euro into the plastic box and pick your own bottle. This is the cheapest drink you can get here. I didn't see any water-filling stations air-side.

Otherwise, you will need to visit the vending machines for a more expensive drink.

The gate area consists of a very long pier and because there weren't too many flights, I had plenty of rows of seats to choose from. A great feature are the charge ports which are available in many rows.

I noticed a staircase and went upstairs to take a look. There is a long corridor full of historic photos of the airport. It is also quiet and serene up here. While it's an old airport, they clearly tried to keep it up-to-date and usable and the customer experience has been pretty good so far.

By evening, there aren't many non-Schengen departures left, which would explain why this pier is so quiet. BA and Brussels Airlines' flights are just 15 minutes apart, and there is only 1 more Heathrow-bound flight for the rest of the night.

I sat down a gate away from mine and played with my phone for a bit. Noticing boarding time was coming to an end according to my boarding pass, I got up and headed a few steps away to check out where they're at. There was no line and they were already on final call! I was surprised there was no announcement for priority or the zones, and I was the last guy to head down the bridge.
Just before getting onto the plane, I noticed a sign marking the area to drop off your hand-carry that needed to be checked in, a sign of the times.

I was pre-allocated an aisle seat at the back of the plane during online check-in. Similar to my flight in, I didn't pay to move to another seat given the short flight time. Leg room was plentiful! Luckily, tonight's flight is not full and the row behind me was empty. So when boarding was completed, I moved to the right window and got a whole row to myself.

With only a 40 minute flight time, our A319 pushed back at 8:48pm and roared into the sky 8 minutes later.

The flight was uneventful and with no entertainment and a dark sky, I took some rest while the crew passed by with for purchase snacks and drinks. The skies were cloudy beneath and I couldn't spot the city as we came in. It didn't feel like we needed to go into hold and we landed at 8:35pm, which was earlier than our departure due to the 1 hour time difference.

It was also smooth sailing through Terminal 2 and I didn't need to wait for immigration either. With only a backpack with me, I was back land-side and reached the Tube station at 8:58pm. I couldn't believe I could exit Heathrow from the airplane to the train in just a little over 20 minutes.

Final Thoughts
Although part of the Lufthansa group, I felt the crew was a bit more warm than its parent. This was an uneventful flight but the departure experience in Brussels was quite pleasant. The only downside is the airport's B gates don't have much food options. I wished I could at least get mussels or Flemish beef stew here for a final taste of Belgian food before I leave.


With a rare good weather forecast, I wanted to head over to Belgium for a last-minute trip. This would have been perfect for a Eurostar Snap booking, which has discount tickets for imminent departures if they have leftover seats, but their website can't confirm the train times but require payment first so a 3-day trip could turn into 1 full day of sightseeing only, or worse yet, allocate their earliest departure which would be impossible for me to take. Prices weren't too cheap either at just shy of 100 pounds roundtrip. With a 65 minute flight time, it's only about half that of the train, so I can imagine why the Eurostar can be a better choice if you start in central London and pay a premium for that. Searching for flights, I was a bit surprised Brussels Airlines came on the radar with a roundtrip at just under 130 pounds for Economy without checked baggage. The departure times were good with an early morning flight out of London and an evening return from Brussels. They're a part of the Lufthansa group and a new airline to experience. The easy journey to the airport ... I had taken the Line 12 bus from the airport to the city a few days earlier. With fairly frequent departures and decently comfortable buses, I chose it again for my journey back to the airport. Unlike the inbound trip which costed 7.5 euros, the outbound is heaps cheaper at only 2.2 euros since they don't levy the airport surcharge. This is far cheaper than the train option while taking just a little longer. Worried about rush hour traffic and because the sun sets early with winter arriving, I started my journey to the airport quite early at just past 5pm. I plan to explore the terminal and its chocolate shops air-side as well as have dinner. Luckily, there was no rush hour traffic and I reached the terminal in about half an hour only. Buses arrive on the ground floor and escalators quickly take me up to the 3rd floor for departures. The retro terminal ... The terminal screams retro in design with low ceilings and a fairly claustrophobic feeling. However, with only a backpack on hand due to my super cheap Economy ticket, I wouldn't even need to visit the counter but just the kiosk to print out my boarding pass. Similar to the kiosks at Heathrow, it spits out a supermarket receipt quality boarding pass. I guess nobody in Europe uses a thicker paper card anymore. Heading for the exit, there is a nice public space with vegetation and benches. Strangely, I didn't see the car drop-off while neighbouring buildings are office or hotel towers. I noticed an extension at the far end of the terminal and headed over for a look. Not all the rows seem to be in operation but it is noticeably brighter and more airy. A long line snaked out of Ethiopian Airlines' counters but I think they're the only ones here for now. Going air-side ... Without much inspiration here, I headed through security to check out air-side. It was quite crowded and the machines are still the old type that required me to unload my laptop. However, it seems most are flying within the EU zone. Right after security, non-Schengen passengers are directed to the right for exit immigration. There was barely a line and I was through in no time. Afterwards, it's time for duty-free shopping. I took aim at the huge chocolate section, where I could find the typical famous brands such as Neuhaus and Leonidas. Prices seem competitive to the city but they offer larger boxes or gift packs here. Exiting the large duty free shop, I noticed another food shop across the hall which sold cheese, cold cuts, and pate. Besides the huge chocolate selection inside the duty-free shop, I noticed another purely chocolate-themed store. This one looks more like the city centre shops with a pick-your-own box counter which the duty-free next door didn't have. The counters are segregated by brand and I noticed 3 here. I like these more than the pre-packed boxes as I'm a bit picky with my chocolate although all Belgian brands I've tried so far have been really good. I somewhat regretted buying chocolate in the city given the airport selection so I continued to explore where to eat dinner. The bars offer good Belgian beers but there wasn't much in terms of hot food besides sandwiches. I ended up picking a British Japanese food brand to have a fairly unsatisfying chicken rice that set me back over 14 euros. In retrospect, I should've had more mussels in the city for an early dinner instead of coming to the airport so early. The gates are a bit of a walk away from the shopping area. As you head down the corridor, keep an eye out for the self-serve travel water. Drop a euro into the plastic box and pick your own bottle. This is the cheapest drink you can get here. I didn't see any water-filling stations air-side. Otherwise, you will need to visit the vending machines for a more expensive drink. The gate area consists of a very long pier and because there weren't too many flights, I had plenty of rows of seats to choose from. A great feature are the charge ports which are available in many rows. I noticed a staircase and went upstairs to take a look. There is a long corridor full of historic photos of the airport. It is also quiet and serene up here. While it's an old airport, they clearly tried to keep it up-to-date and usable and the customer experience has been pretty good so far. By evening, there aren't many non-Schengen departures left, which would explain why this pier is so quiet. BA and Brussels Airlines' flights are just 15 minutes apart, and there is only 1 more Heathrow-bound flight for the rest of the night. I sat down a gate away from mine and played with my phone for a bit. Noticing boarding time was coming to an end according to my boarding pass, I got up and headed a few steps away to check out where they're at. There was no line and they were already on final call! I was surprised there was no announcement for priority or the zones, and I was the last guy to head down the bridge. Just before getting onto the plane, I noticed a sign marking the area to drop off your hand-carry that needed to be checked in, a sign of the times. I was pre-allocated an aisle seat at the back of the plane during online check-in. Similar to my flight in, I didn't pay to move to another seat given the short flight time. Leg room was plentiful! Luckily, tonight's flight is not full and the row behind me was empty. So when boarding was completed, I moved to the right window and got a whole row to myself. With only a 40 minute flight time, our A319 pushed back at 8:48pm and roared into the sky 8 minutes later. The flight was uneventful and with no entertainment and a dark sky, I took some rest while the crew passed by with for purchase snacks and drinks. The skies were cloudy beneath and I couldn't spot the city as we came in. It didn't feel like we needed to go into hold and we landed at 8:35pm, which was earlier than our departure due to the 1 hour time difference. It was also smooth sailing through Terminal 2 and I didn't need to wait for immigration either. With only a backpack with me, I was back land-side and reached the Tube station at 8:58pm. I couldn't believe I could exit Heathrow from the airplane to the train in just a little over 20 minutes. Final Thoughts Although part of the Lufthansa group, I felt the crew was a bit more warm than its parent. This was an uneventful flight but the departure experience in Brussels was quite pleasant. The only downside is the airport's B gates don't have much food options. I wished I could at least get mussels or Flemish beef stew here for a final taste of Belgian food before I leave.