Since 1979, Frans Van Humbeek has been working on the airport with handling agent Aviapartner. Throughout the years, the author has gathered a vast and unique collection of aviation documents and photographs. Today he is considered an authority on the rich history of Belgian aviation. In 1998 he published “Het Vliegveld van Grimbergen in de Tweede Wereldoorlog”, a book on the role of Grimbergen airfield in the Second World War. The author is a member of the Belgian Aviation History Association and of the Belgian Association of Journalists of the Periodical Press. He wrote valued contributions for several aviation magazines.

In the present book the author paints a picture of the history of the national airport. The opening scene shows the construction of the Zeppelin hangar on the airfield of Haren/Evere by the German forces. Shortly after World War I, civil aircraft started to use the airfield. The first actual airport terminals, still looking much like train stations, appear in the early Twenties. Then, after World War II, aviation activities are gradually moved to the airfield of nearby Melsbroek.

At the occasion of the Brussels World Exhibition in 1958, the construction of a contemporary passenger terminal brings Zaventem into the league of the top airports in the world. On 12th December 1994, King Albert II officially opens a new passenger terminal and pier B. The book recalls the turbulent autumn of 2001 and ends with the new pier A, a masterpiece of functional architecture to be used by Schengen passengers.

The reader is taken from the dark days of the First World War to arrive in one of the world’s most modern airports, built for a new and promising millennium.