History of the runways

Map Runway Original

Map Runway Composed

This recent ground plan of Brussels National gives a schematic view of the development of the runways.  The current situation is shown in bold lines.  Besides the works mentioned, the airport operator regularly has the top layers of the runways refurbished.  They are subject to wear and tear, caused by landing planes and the weather.  Of course, landing aids (lighting, navigation and landing equipment) are constantly being modernised.  The equipment used in the war years made way for systems such as Calvert and Instrument Landing System (ILS.)

In 1944, the Luftwaffe left behind an airport at Melsbroek with three runways linked by taxiways.  These taxiways were too narrow for later use by passenger aircraft.  According to RAF measurements made soon after it had taken over the premises, the runways had the following lengths: 2000 (07/25), 1510 (02/20) and 1520 meters (12/30.)

 07/25

 In 1948 the renovation of the wartime runway (in pink) was put out to tender.  The contractor had to repair it in 100 days.  Since the runway had to remain in use, the eastern 800 meters were done first, followed by the western 800 meters.  The runway had to be made Suitable for the take-off and landing of planes of up to 70 tons.  A DC-4 had a maximum take-off weight of 33 tons at the time.

Runway 07/25 was extended by 391.5 meters in the Diegem direction (pale green) between 3/9/1951 and 28/8/1952.  Radical improvements were made between 14/11/1955 and 4/6/1956.  During the World Exhibition, planes mainly used this 07/25.  New runways were only brought into operation after the Exhibition.

 The first 12/30

 The wartime runway 12/30 (yellow) was repaired between 4/8/1952 and 11/9/1952.  It was partly broken up in 1956 to make way for the construction of the Zaventem passenger terminal.  This wartime runway was rarely used.

 02/20

 This is the only runway that still remains from the war years (grey).  Of course, it has undergone many modifications.  Between March 1947 and May 1948, it was lengthened in both the north and the south directions by various contractors (blue).

Between 10/12/1956 and 20/5/1958, there was a further extension on the South Side.  The 02/20 was later to cross the newly built runway (25L/07R).The work was carried out by Picavet of Brussels.This extension meant the railway line (the Brussels-Leuven branch line that ran via Steenokkerzeel to the Melsbroek air terminal) had to be diverted.

The extension of runway 02/20 was funded partly by NATO - we were in the midst of the Cold War at the time.  According to several reliable witnesses, small chambers were built under the runways that could contain explosives to blow up the runways in the event of a crisis.  The finance was also provided because NATO planes did not have to pay landing fees, so the subsidy Could be viewed as a kind of compensation.

The contractors had to lay a pavement that Would be Suitable for jets of up to 135 tons, still a good 20 tons under the maximum takeoff weight of a modern Boeing B707 for example.  Tests with five types of concrete were carried out at the edge of runway 20 to gain experience in the construction of stronger runways.

 08L/26R or 07L/25R

 When Sabena placed orders and options for five Boeings B707 Intercontinental on 28 December 1955, it was clear that Melsbroek needed a longer runway.  Not one of the existing runways was either strong or long enough for this generation of planes to land on or take off from with a maximum load.  The decision was taken to build the new 08L/26R.

In June 1959, a few roads that traversed the present airport were closed, to make way for the construction of the new runway.  The Dreststraat, which provided a shortcut between the Haachtsesteenweg and the hamlet of Diegem-l,o, was to be diverted.  The same happened with the Steenweg op Zaventem which ran between Melsbroek and Zaventem.  Work began on the expropriation of tens of houses on Diegem land.

The 08L/26R (purple) , with a total length of 3500 m, was built by Wegebo Brussels between 20/10/1958 and 16/3/1960.  Prestressed concrete was used, a novel process in runway construction.  The 18-cm thick and 330-meter long sections of prestressed concrete were stressed with threaded cables both longitudinally and cross-wise.  Because runway 08L/26R had to be constructed without disrupting the flight operations too much, it was oriented a few degrees to the South of the former east-west 07/25 runway. So, our present runways 25L and 25R are not exactly parallel with one another.  If the runways could be extended lengthwise, they would converge somewhere near Koekelberg.

The natural deviation from the magnetic north meant that runway 08L/26R was called 07L/25R from 1974.  The old 07/25 was broken up for the most part.  The present runway 07L/25R is thus not built on the foundations of the wartime runway 07/25.  The first jets that flew into Brussels still had to land on the wartime runways the Germans had built, although they since been renovate. In contrast to what is sometimes believed, runway 08/26R was not ready for use during the World Exhibition of 1958.

On the south side of 08L/26R, levelling work was carried out between I August 1962 and 24 September 1963, for a now defunct grass emergency landing strip. As southwesterly winds prevail at Brussels Airport, runway 07L/25R is the main take-off runway.  It is now 3,638 meters long and 45 meters wide.

 08R/26L - 07R/25L

 In April 1956, guidelines were issued for the construction of a new runway 08R/26L, part of our present 07R/25L.  From the start, it was stated that Zaventem Church tower must not be reduced, although a few factory chimneys in Zaventem did have to be shortened or knocked clown.

The first section of the 08R/26L (red) was constructed by Zegers of Vrasene-Waas, between 29/4/1957 and 28/5/1959.  The 2,292-metre runway was first used on 1 July 1959.  The first landing was assigned to Sabena Douglas DC-7C 00-SFD.  The first plane to take off from it was the Belgian Air Force Fairchild C- 119G CP29/0T-CBI on that Wednesday morning at 8.00 a.m.

Every time a ^lane landed on 26L, traffic on the Tervuren-Mechelen had to be stopped by barriers.  If not, the cars got too close to the aircraft as they landed.  The press cried shame: "it is not exceptional to come across queues Of 15 to 20 vehicles that have to wait at least 15 minutes before they can proceed." The
Tervuren-Mechelen road was re-routed to solve the problem.  This work, carried our by Wegebo, took place between 14 September 1959 and 27 May 1960.  So, this runway was not in operation during the year of the Exhibition.  This had never been the intention of the then airport operator RLW/RVA either.  Runway 08R/26L was extended in an easterly direction by Wegebo to give a total of 3,211 meters (orange).  The work was carried out between 21/4/1969 and 11/3/1970.  It would have crossed the Tervuren-Mechelen road if it hadn't been for the runnel that was constructed for this trunk road in Humelgem between 19/2/1968 and 14/3/1969.  The road now went under the runway, and car drivers no longer had to make a detour because of planes taking off or landing.

Runway 07R/25L is now used as the main landing runway.  It is situated 1,800 meters from the parallel 25R runway.

 The second 12/30

 After the first 12/30 had been broken up to make way for the new Zaventem airport terminal, a new runway 12/30 was constructed slightly to the east. It was built by Wegebo between 13/9/60 and 8/12/61 (dark green).  Enormous sums were put into this 2,392 metre long runway, which was not to be used very much, for the wind rarely comes from the northwest.  When the Belgian Air Force began using Starfighters at Bevekom, 12/30 was abandoned for good, since the approach route crossed military air space.  Moreover, the nearby Grimbergen airfield could not be used if 12/30 was in service.