Brussels Airport gets US Preclearance Facility (USCBP)
After many years of negotiations between the Belgian government and the USA, the Belgian capital Brussels, or better Brussels Airport gets a Preclearance Facility for flights to the USA.
Media reports that Belgium and the USA agreed on the details on 28.09.2020. This would make Brussels Airport the third possibility in Europe to perform preclearance for flights to the USA.
What is a preclearance?
The Preclearance program of the USA enables travelers to complete the formalities of the US immigration authorities already at the airport of departure.
This saves you a lot of time, because you will be treated as a domestic traveller when you arrive in the USA. You don’t have to wait in the queue at the airport in New York, Washington, Miami or Los Angeles for hours and wait for your turn. This makes the trip to the USA more relaxed, because at European airports, only those passengers who have booked a flight to the USA go to preclearance. There are usually only a handful of these flights every day. However, flights and passengers from all over the world arrive at American airports – and all of them have to go through US Immigration and border control.
What's the benefit for Munich?
Brussels will be the third airport in Europe to be equipped with a US Preclearance Facility. Until now, this service was only available at Dublin and Shannon airports (both in Ireland). For the airports of Munich (MUC) and Memmingen (FMM), but also for other airports such as Salzburg, Innsbruck, Milan or Zurich, this means an increase in attractivity, as it is only a short flight of about one and a half hours to Brussels. To Dublin or Shannon, on the other hand, it takes one hour more.
When's the Preclearance Facility ready?
It is not yet known when the Preclearance Facility in Brussels will open. However, it could possibly be expected as early as 2021.
