Lufthansa Extends Brussels Flight Cancellations Into March 28

Germany’s Lufthansa airline extended the cancellation of all its flights to Brussels Zaventim airport.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Germany’s Lufthansa airline extended the cancellation of all its Brussels flights into Monday, March 28, the company said in a statement Thursday.

Brussels Airport, where two of the three suicide attacks claimed the lives of 13 people early Tuesday, said there would be no passenger flights to and from the airport on Thursday and Friday.

"Lufthansa is also cancelling all its flights to and from Brussels from Friday 25 March to (and including) Monday 28 March," the airline said.

A total of 156 Brussels flights from Frankfurt and Munich affecting 12,300 travelers will have been canceled, the company added, taking into account cancellations made in the previous three days.

"The customers concerned may also rebook (once) or cancel their flight free of charge. This provision applies to all the airlines of the Lufthansa Group (Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, Brussels Airlines, Swiss and Eurowings)," it said.

The airline said it would run a shuttle bus service between Frankfurt Airport and Brussels during the flight cancellations.

Brussels Airport in the northeastern municipality of Zaventem said it had no access to the building because of a forensic investigation into the deadly attacks claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, outlawed in many countries including Russia.

An additional 20 people died in a separate explosion inside a subway carriage at the central Maelbeek station near EU institutions half an hour after the airport blasts.

Three of the suicide bombers have been identified by Belgian authorities, with a fourth accomplice reportedly on the run.