Travel documents

It’s your responsibility to find out about current entry and exit regulations and to take the required documents with you. It is essential that you obtain all the necessary travel documents and visas for yourself and your children as well as complying with all the regulations of the countries that you will be flying via, to or from.

Which travel documens do I need?

The most common travel documents you’ll need are:

An international passport or identity card. Make sure you check the validity of your passport or identity card, as some countries will only allow entry if your passport or ID is valid for at least 6 months after your arrival date.
A travel visa or other authorisation documents (e.g. ESTA for the US, eTA for Canada).
Vaccination certificates (e.g. Yellow Fever, Covid-19, etc.)

The travel documents you need will depend on:

Your citizenship

Your destination country
Your reason for travel

Where do I find which documents are needed?

Governmental websites and your destination’s embassy are the best source. Make sure you inform yourself well in advance, as some documents may take a few weeks or months to acquire.

Good to know

Under Belgian law, Brussels Airlines is required to check if the name on your boarding pass exactly matches the name on your ID card or passport.

The identification conformity check applies to:

All passengers, including infants and children
All Brussels Airlines flights, including flights between Schengen countries
Your passport or identity card only! Driver’s licence, health insurance cards, etc. are not accepted as valid travel identity documents.

You will only be accepted to board your flight if the name on your boarding pass and identification document match. Therefore, it is important that your official name is mentioned in your reservation. In the event that your name or the name of other passengers is misspelled, contact us or your travel agency.

Belgian law requires Brussels Airlines to collect your Advance Passenger Information (“API”) data, which are mentioned on your passport or identity card, if you booked a non-Schengen flight, to, from and across Belgium.

These data must be collected during check-in and you will thus be required to provide this data during online check-in or at the airport.

Brussels Airlines will be required to transmit the API to the Belgian passenger information unit upon flight closure. The data will be analysed by the information unit with the aim of improving border control and fighting illegal immigration.

Passengers travelling to the United Kingdom, China, Canada or the United States need to fill in their API during booking.

If you skip this step, you will need to check in at the airport, as we won’t be able to issue your boarding pass via our other check-in options.

Depending on your (transit) destination, you may also need a travel visa or other travel documents. Brussels Airlines may check for valid travel documents before allowing passengers to board their flight.

If you don’t have the required documents for your destination, you may be denied boarding and immigration officers can deny you entry to the country.