Tourist: do you really believe that a suitcase that explodes inside a crowded Airport Terminal would do the same damage inflicted by a suitcase that explodes outside the Terminal?
1985: I remember very well FCO airport after the terrorist attack there, for many years after the attack of 1985 the Italian authorities placed two heavily armed Police/Carabinieri personnel at each airport entrance, together with sniffer dogs, no metal detector needed, they were just asking for a ticket and quick screening through profiling, minimum disruption but very effective in my opinion. Nobody else allowed landside unless you travelled. Very easy to implement, this type of "profiling" / quick screening is carried out in many high risk airports around the world, disruption & cost are minimal, however the deterrent factor in my opinion is significant. This would certainly not stop the detonation but what happened today in BRU would have had a different outcome (similar to the Stadium in Paris, basically a failure for the terrorists - open space explosions are failures compared to indoors explosions) if those guys were stopped before entering the Terminal. Terrorists would not target an airport again if they knew they would kill only two guards and a few people in a queue outside an airport entrance. Very simple. Airports are too important to be shut down as BRU is today. I am sure the security at BRU will involve quick checks before entering the Terminals from tomorrow morning.
