Just because there’s almost no one flying to the U.S. from Brussels just now doesn’t mean it’s a bad time for good news: Brussels is next-in-line for the pre-clearance program that takes care of customs and immigration before boarding so that on arrival in the U.S. passengers can grab their bags and go.
No date is set for the start of the service at Brussels, but the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency has announced agreement with Belgian officials and is only waiting for ratification in Belgium and construction of facilities. It’s already in effect at fifteen other airports, eight of them in Canada, and most of the rest in the Caribbean. In Europe, so far, there’s only Dublin and Shannon in Ireland.
Originally seen as a way to avoid crowds at U.S. airports, and to allow incoming flights to U.S. airports that didn’t have Customs and Immigration stations, it is now viewed by the U.S. as a way to bar entry before boarding to passengers it considers security risks or otherwise not admissible to the U.S.
