Travel in Belgium disrupted following explosions at airport and metro

Travel to and from -- and within -- Belgium has been seriously affected by the explosions at Brussels airport and Maelbeek metro station.

Flights have been cancelled, public transport across the city has been shut down and travellers have been advised to contact their airline or tour operator for the latest updates. 

The disruption spread to other airports across Europe including Paris and London Gatwick, where security has been tightened.

Brussels Airport was evacuated following the twin blasts, flights were diverted and rail travel to the airport was suspended.

The airport tweeted a phone number for anyone concerned for family and friends that were due to fly.

The Crisis Centre Belgium meanwhile advised travellers to stay away from the airport completely and keep the roads free for emergency services.

Metro stations were also closed across the city and bus and tram networks were also shut down.

All flights to Brussels were diverted following the blasts.

Delta Air Lines Flight 80, which had landed at Brussels prior to the airport evacuation, was held in a safe area until passengers could be deplaned, according to the airline.

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Delta Flight 42, from New York to Brussels, was diverted to Amsterdam.

All Ubers were busy in the region around the airport, according to users on Twitter.

The UK Foreign Office advised travellers to contact their airline for more information. "The Belgian government has placed the whole of Belgium at threat level 3 - a possible and real threat," they wrote.

"You should remain alert and vigilant, especially in places where there’s a high concentration of people. Follow the advice of local authorities and respect security controls."

Other airports across Europe said they were tightening security.

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The airport advised passengers traveling to Brussels to check their flight status with the airline.

Ryanair said their flights out to Alicante, Barcelona and Dublin have been cancelled with a number of other flights diverted to Brussels Charleroi. KLM also said some flights to Brussels had been cancelled and advised passengers to check the website for more information. Aer Lingus said a flight was diverted and airport operations had been suspended.

The Eurostar stopped running trains to or from Brussels station.

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Trains to Lille, France, have also been affected. Eurostar is asking that passengers who need to travel use the website to change to newly scheduled service.

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Jessica Plautz contributed to this report.

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