Brussels airport has reopened for three flights amid tight security controls, 12 days after an attack by suicide bombers killed 16 people there, BBC News reports.

Three Brussels Airlines flights departed for Faro in Portugal, Turin in northern Italy and Athens.

Passengers were screened on an approach road and again before check in.

Attacks on the airport and a Brussels metro station by so-called Islamic State on 22 March left 32 people dead.

Airport workers gathered at Zaventem to watch the first flight take off.

Brussels Airlines has estimated the closure of its hub has been costing it €5m ($5.7m) a day.

The stringent new security checks were put in place after police threatened to go on strike if measures were not improved.

Passengers were asked to arrive three hours before their flight departure time. They were only able to get to the airport by car or taxi - the terminal is still closed to trains and buses.