Dhaka: Brussels Airport has announced plans to offer 135 direct destinations this winter, including two new routes to Sälen, Sweden, and Chongqing, China.

TUI fly will launch a weekly flight to Sälen’s Scandinavian Mountains Airport from December 20, while Hainan Airlines will operate three weekly flights to Chongqing starting November 22, expanding Brussels’ presence in the Chinese market.

The airport will also welcome new carrier Smartwings, which will begin 12 weekly flights to Prague from October 26 using Airbus A220 aircraft.

Despite the additions, the total number of destinations falls short of last winter’s 142, following TUI fly’s withdrawal from long-haul routes. This has led to the cancellation of flights to Punta Cana, Cancún, Curaçao, Tromsø, and Birmingham.

Winter services will continue to connect travelers to popular alpine and Nordic destinations such as Innsbruck, Kittilä, Kuusamo, and Salzburg. Routes to winter sun spots in Spain, Morocco, and Southeast Asia, including Alicante, Malaga, Barcelona, Bangkok, Singapore, and Hong Kong, remain in high demand. Transavia will add three weekly flights to Agadir, Morocco, from November 3.

The airport anticipates a busy start to the season with over 1.2 million passengers expected during the autumn school holidays, a 3.5pc increase over last year.

Peak travel days are forecast for October 17 and 24, coinciding with French- and Dutch-speaking school breaks.

Travelers are advised to use the airport’s online tools for optimal arrival times, pre-book parking, and utilize automated border control e-gates for non-Schengen flights to ensure smooth journeys.

-B