Belgian authorities have decided to extradite Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam to France, as bomb-damaged Brussels airport says it is ready to reopen.

Abdeslam, the sole surviving suspect in the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris which killed 130 people, was arrested in Brussels on March 18 after four months on the run as Europe’s most wanted man.

Four days after his arrest, the Belgian capital was struck by coordinated Islamic State (IS) group bombings at the airport and a metro station carried out by suicide attackers with links to Abdeslam and the Paris attacks cell.

• One dead in ‘all out blitz of gunfire’: reports
• Bridge collapse in Kolkata kills 20
• Trump backtracks on punishing illegal abortions

Abdeslam’s lawyer said that his 26-year-old client had agreed to be transferred to France under a European arrest warrant, clearing the way for a fast-track extradition.

“What Salah Abdeslam wants to make known is that he wants to cooperate with the French authorities,” lawyer Cedric Moisse told reporters in Brussels.

Abdeslam is likely to be extradited within 10 days. Photo: ABC

“These are the words he wants to make known.”

Abdeslam’s arrest was considered a rare success in Belgium’s anti-terrorism fight, although he was found within a short distance of his family home in the Molenbeek district of the capital.

He has refused to talk since the Brussels bombings.

“As Salah Abdeslam had declared to agree to be transferred to France, a federal magistrate took his formal declaration today… The transfer is possible,” the federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

“Belgian and French authorities will now consider jointly on how to proceed further in the execution of the transfer,” the statement added.

“Unless there are exceptional circumstances,” the transfer to France will happen “within 10 days”, according to French Justice Minister, Jean-Jacques Urvoas.

Belgian investigators will still be allowed to question Abdeslam in France.

He is believed to have acted as a logistics coordinator for the Paris attacks and has told investigators he was meant to carry out a suicide bombing at the Stade de France stadium but backed out.

Brussels airport ‘technically ready for restart’

Brussels airport, closed since its departure hall was wrecked in the attacks, said it had received the go-ahead from fire services and the Belgian Civil Aviation Authority “for a partial restart of passenger flights”.

“The airport is thus technically ready for a restart,” it said in a statement.

“However, the authorities have yet to take a formal decision on the restart date. Until Friday evening, no passenger flights will take place at Brussels Airport.”

In a bid to end the travel chaos caused by the closure of an important European air hub, hundreds of staff staged drills this week to test temporary check-in facilities as well as enhanced security measures.

Under the temporary arrangements, Zaventem airport would be able to handle 800 departing passengers per hour — about 20 per cent of normal capacity, it said.

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said: “We must reopen the airport as soon as possible, it is important for our economy and our image overseas.”

But he said his first priority as the government “is to ensure that there are enough security guarantees in place”.

Adding to the airport’s woes, police unions threatened to go on strike if security measures were not improved ahead of the reopening.

– with agencies