Where have you been? What have you seen?
#1567865
Apologies for tagging onto an old post, but I want to add to the sentiment that Ostend / Bruge is indeed a great trip.

Do be prepared though for it to take a little while to get landside and back to your aircraft.

The current process is that you will be parked by Follow-Me on Apron 3. From there, you will be taken to the security cabin, which is currently under refurbishment / reconstruction, before being given a lift to the main terminal for passports (Extra-Schengen arrivals). You will be issued with security cards for getting back airside later.

We got there just as a TUI from Malaga was unloading, but immigration still managed to open a booth promptly just for us, so I guess it was about 30 minutes from brakes on to getting out. Like a *** I left my Euros in the plane and there's no ATM in the terminal. So we took a taxi (which accept cards) instead. It was 19 Euros to the train station - not too bad actually considering it's 3 Euro each on the bus.

The taxi quoted us 60 Euro to go all the way to Bruges, but we decided on the train for both cost and the ride. The bus charges for children 6 yrs and over, but on the train seems that older children are free. I'm not sure I understood this correctly, but anyway they only charged for two adults - 9 Euro each for Bruges return. Plenty of info online about Bruges so nothing for me to add, except it's well worth a visit. I would suggest overnight stop (see later) as it's actually much bigger with more to do than I expected.

Back in Ostend and now Euro'd up, we caught the No. 6 bus back. They're very frequent, at least 3 an hour, maybe more at peak times. We just missed one, but there was another waiting so we sat on it and seemed to leave after about 5 minutes. This might be because there were charter flights due, so maybe they push a bunch of busses up to the airport to bring pax back to the town. The bus was 9 Euro for 2 adults, 1 six year old and 2 under sixes. So, 15 Euro total per adult airport to Bruge return and around an hour travelling each way. This compares with 120 Euro return by taxi, but probably could be done slightly quicker.

I've flown to Ostend a few times in the distant past and also stopped for breakfast / lunch / dinner when passing on the E40. However, the last time was at least 8 years ago and the airport restaurant has changed significantly. No longer a somewhat sleepy affair, it was packed out in the morning and evening. Still we had a coffee and snack before leaving - both of which were very good.

Getting airside is slightly easier but can take extra time if there is a queue at security. You are supposed to go to the Information Desk and present the little security cards, but there was no-one there so we just joined the main security queue. The scanner supervisor took our cards and called for a chaperone who took us through immigration. It was the same cheerful official who cleared us through in the morning.

We were then handed over to the ramp who, after parking yet another TUI, drove us to Air Navigation to pay the landing fee. The helpful lady was happy to confirm my flight plan was present and correct on both her screens. The total charge was 107 Euro for a 2460kg MTOW Baron, 1 crew and 4 pax. Some might say that's expensive, but it didn't seem too bad considering the amount of running around and personal attention we received. Our Follow-Me driver also made the point that we could've stayed for a further 24 hours for just 15 Euro extra.

The only slight wrinkle (which wasn't) was we were then told the airport was going to close at 7.30pm local. Not a problem, because we planned to depart at 7.00pm, but when I mentioned I hadn't seen a NOTAM, I was told that it definitely had been. T'was weird because I checked SkyDemon as soon as I got to the cockpit and now't there. I also checked online (pilotweb) after landing and still nothing. Anyway, not a problem but it might be worth calling first or on arrival to see if anything is planned (this was for electrical system repairs).

A beautiful sunset and just-about-night-flight back to Lydd (we landed ss+55). All-in-all a great destination, very helpful ATC and ground staff, easy ground transportation and plenty to do in both Ostend and Bruges.

Ostend / Bruges is an easily doable day-trip for a flyout with friends, but probably a night stop would be better with a slow moving family - for who flying is a means of getting to the interesting place, rather than the objective itself :)

My highlight - night flight over the channel, wife's highlight - quiet corner coffee shops in Bruge, kid's highlight Halloween fair with scary rides in Ostend. Reflection today, I can just about justify the $800 croissant!!
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By 2Donkeys
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1568107
That's a great write-up highfive. We paid a similar amount for a weekend stop in Ostend in a Lance with 5 on board. The real cost driver seems to be the per-passenger charge rather than any other consideration. The over €100 total fee always makes me think twice, as does the faff involved getting through the terminal in both directions, but on balance my family seems to Ostend and Brugges as a destination sufficiently to override those minor wrinkles!
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By BlackheathBloke
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1568313
I've had the experience of turning up with no Euro for the bus, the very friendly airport Bobbies had a whip round to raise my bus fare :oops:

I deposited some money back into their care when I returned so they weren't out of pocket and in order to help out the next Euroless idiot :D