Charleroi airport to Brussels: bus, train or taxi in 2026

Charleroi airport to Brussels-Midi · shuttle, train and taxiUpdated November 2026Flibco from €14.99 · TEC bus A1 €6 plus train (November 2026)

Take the Flibco shuttle. It runs straight from Terminal 1 to Brussels-Midi in 55 to 60 minutes, with no change and a bus every 20 to 30 minutes until around 01:00. Switch to bus plus train only if you are going beyond Midi or travelling on a weekend, when the train part drops by 30% for adults aged 26 to 64.

Brussels South Charleroi Airport is not in Brussels. It sits around 50 km south of the city, outside Charleroi, and it has no railway station. That catches people out because the name suggests a short hop and the low-cost fares make it tempting. Every price and timing below was checked in November 2026 against Flibco, TEC, SNCB and the airport's own pages. Where those sources disagree, you will see it. Train times come from SNCB timetable data for Tuesday 8, Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 December 2026.

What is the best way to get from Charleroi airport to Brussels?

For most arrivals, the Flibco shuttle is the best way from Charleroi airport to Brussels, because it is the only public option with no change. The train route can cost about the same, but it takes longer and stops running much earlier in the evening.

Pay for a taxi only if you land after the last shuttle, or if you are a group of four or more whose hotel is awkward to reach from Midi. Everyone else should take the shuttle.

How does the Flibco shuttle from Charleroi airport work?

Flibco runs non-stop between the front exit of Terminal 1 and Brussels-Midi, where it stops just off Rue de France. Its Brussels route page lists 55 minutes, and its FAQ says 55 to 60 depending on traffic. The same page says departures run every 20 minutes, while its offers page says every 20 to 30, so plan on 30.

The price is the slippery part. Flibco's route page says "from €14.99", its offers page says "from €15", and another Flibco page has shown €19.95 for an online ticket. A 2026 conference guide quotes about €19.90. Budget €15 to €20 per person, and book before you fly, since Flibco's FAQ confirms that tickets bought from the driver cost more.

Your ticket is valid for one journey on the whole travel day, until 04:00 the next morning, rather than for one specific bus. A delayed flight therefore doesn't normally cost you the fare, although Flibco notes that seats on the next bus depend on availability.

Children under four can travel free with an adult ticket, but you need to book their place in advance.

How do you get from Charleroi airport to Brussels by train?

You take TEC bus A1 from the airport to Charleroi-Central, then a direct SNCB train to Brussels. The airport puts the bus at about 20 minutes, and sampled trains took 50 to 55 minutes to Midi and 57 to 59 to Brussels-Central. The steps are simple, but the two tickets are separate.

1. Buy the train ticket to Charleroi-Central. Use the SNCB app, website, a ticket machine or a ticket office. Older pages, including the airport's own, still say Charleroi-Sud, and it is the same station.
2. Add the bus. SNCB sells a Bus TEC Charleroi Airport Ticket as a supplement in the same purchase. You receive two separate tickets.
3. Or buy the bus ticket from TEC. TEC lists a €6 Airport ticket through its app and e-shop, and on board the A1. Normal TEC Classic and Express tickets are not valid on this line.
4. Ride the A1 to the end of the line, then change to the train. Trains ran about twice an hour on all three sampled days, at :25 and :51 past the hour towards Midi on the Tuesday and at :05 and :32 at the weekend.

TEC says the A1 runs every 15 minutes, seven days a week, from 04:30 to 23:30. The airport's FAQ describes a bus every 15 minutes on weekdays but hourly at weekends and on public holidays, and it may be out of date. Check the TEC timetable if you land at the weekend, because one hourly bus changes this route's arithmetic completely.

The train fare is distance-based, and SNCB's planner shows the exact figure for your date. I could not confirm an official price for this journey, so treat the figure of about €9 shown by third-party planners such as Omio as a rough guide only. Adults aged 26 to 64 get 30% off on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. If you haven't used Belgian trains before, the SNCB ticket guide explains the app and the barriers.

Pick this route if you are staying near Brussels-Central or North, since you avoid crossing the city from Midi with your bags.

What if you land late or fly out early?

Landing after about 21:00 means Flibco, not the train. The last direct train from Charleroi-Central left at 22:25 on the sampled Tuesday and at 22:32 on the sampled Saturday and Sunday. Allowing for the 20-minute bus, you want to be leaving the airport by about 22:00, and getting off a plane and through the terminal can easily take an hour. That hour is my own margin, not an official figure.

There is one later train, at 22:39 with a change, reaching Midi at 00:27. It is a poor backup compared with Flibco's last bus at around 01:00, which goes straight to Midi.

Early flights run into the same problem from the other side.

At weekends the airport asks for 3 hours rather than 2, so add an hour to that last column. Any flight earlier than that means taking Flibco. The airport says its shuttles start at 03:30, while Flibco's page says "around 3AM" for Midi departures without giving a time for the first bus, so confirm your exact bus when you book.

How early should you leave Brussels for a Charleroi flight?

Leave Brussels-Midi at least 3 hours 15 minutes before departure on a normal day and 4 hours 15 minutes in busy periods. The airport asks passengers to arrive about 2 hours before their flight, and 3 hours during school holidays and at weekends. On top of that you need up to an hour for the shuttle, plus some margin for the ring road.

By train, leave 30 minutes earlier again to cover the change at Charleroi-Central. Flibco doesn't stop anywhere else in the city, so if you are ending a 48-hour Brussels weekend near the centre, also allow for the trip to Midi.

How much is a taxi from Charleroi airport to Brussels?

A taxi or private transfer from Charleroi airport to Brussels costs roughly €70 to €140, and I found no official fixed fare on the airport's site. A comparison site, montransport.com, showed €85 as the best airport-to-Brussels price and €134 as the average when checked in November 2026. Treat those as market quotes, not tariffs.

The airport lists local firms such as Taxis Carolo and Sympatax, but I found no published Brussels fares from them. Agree the price before you get in, or pre-book a fixed fare if you are landing late. Three adults on Flibco would pay about €45 to €60, so even at that size the shuttle is cheaper unless your hotel is far from Midi.

If you are arriving from London and still choosing how to get here, compare your total against the Eurostar to Brussels guide. Once you add the transfer, a cheap Charleroi flight can lose most of its advantage over a train that ends in the city centre.