A suburb of Brussels, Machelen directly borders the Brussels-Capital Region, specifically the Haren neighbourhood.

A portion of Brussels Airport is located in Diegem,[2] together with neighbouring town of Zaventem.

The municipality contains three major road junctions: the intersection of the Brussels Ring (R0) and A201 serving the airport (labelled Zaventem), the start of the A1 towards Mechelen and Antwerp fed by the ring road, and the first junction on the A1 meeting the N211 feeder road from Vilvoorde, also accessing the airport.

[4] The Europe, Middle East, and Africa operations of Chevron Phillips are based in Stockholm Building in Airport Plaza in Diegem.

[5] Primary schools include:[6] GISO Machelen provides secondary education.