Postal, parcel and express firms started to get deliveries in Brussels back to normal today as the heightened state of alert due to a serious threat of terror attacks eased and city centre access restrictions were scaled back.
While the Belgian capital will remain on the maximum Level 4 high alert (and the rest of the country on Level 3) until and including 30 November, schools and universities have re-opened and the city's metro network is gradually being brought back into service, the state crisis unit said.
But the unit underlined the need for continued vigilance in places where there is a strong concentration of people such as shopping centres, entertainment venues public transport. The police presence in the centre of Brussels has again been stepped up.
"Essentially, public buildings are open again today along with the metro and the advice is now to be vigilant rather than avoid public places," a FedEx spokesperson told CEP-Research. "While the highest security level remains in place, from November 25 the majority of the restrictions have been lifted. Following a reassessment of the security situation, we have resumed normal operations throughout Brussels city centre.”
A GLS Belgium spokesperson told CEP-Research: "The situation is gradually 'normalising'. GLS has, of course, a backlog, as some parcels, which could not be delivered in the last few days, have accumulated. But the backlog is expected to be cleared by Friday.”
TNT confirmed the return of near normal operating condition but qualified this by adding: "in allowed areas."
Meanwhile, FedEx has declined to comment further on a police raid last week on its Europe hub at Paris Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). This is thought to have been part of an investigation into possible radicalisation networks, prompted by the 13 November terrorist attacks in the French capital. "Unfortunately, we cannot comment on an on-going gendarmerie investigation," a spokesperson told CEP-Research.
Last week, FedEx issued the following statement when quizzed about the raid: “As part of the overall state of emergency declared by the French state a few days ago, following the tragic attacks of 13 November, leading to raids in the Paris region, the gendarmerie did come to our hub based in Roissy-CDG on 18 November. We are fully co-operating with the French authorities and we will continue to do our utmost to maintain a high level of security.”
A statement issued late last week by the state prefect’s office responsible for safety and security at Paris Charles de Gaulle and Le Bourget airports, said that a team of 70 gendarmes had carried out "a search of some 2,010 lockers in staff changing rooms at an airside zone at CDG."
This had led to “the discovery of clear signs of proselytism (attempts to convert people to another religion or opinion) and to a far lesser extent of radicalisation.” In the course of the raid, a number of items that had been stolen from the (unspecified) firm whose premises were being searched came to light. The firm is expected to lodge a complaint for theft, the statement added.
Meanwhile, a confidential memo from France's state treasury leaked to the press estimates the cost to the economy of the Paris terror attacks at €2 billion, partly as a result of lower retail sales. Despite being traditionally the busiest time of the year in the run-up to Christmas, footfall in Paris' major stores is said to have fallen by 15% on the levels before the attacks and by between 20%-30% in clothing shops specifically, producing a knock-on effect on parcel delivery volumes.
But there is no hard data available yet to suggest that consumers are purchasing more online as an alternative to shopping in 'bricks and mortar' stores. No one at France's e-commerce federation FEVAD was immediately available to comment.
Separately, some US-bound parcels from Cairo airport being shipped by DHL that were flagged by the express group for additional checks were found by Egyptian officials to contain no explosives, contrary to some initial media reports.
The company confirmed comments made by its US spokesperson, Bea Garcia, to Reuters in an emailed statement: "As part of our standard screening and security procedure, we identified a shipment today (24 November) at DHL’s Cairo airport facility that required further screening by the authorities. The Egyptian authorities have subsequently informed us that the shipment contained no explosives or explosive devices."
