Brussels Airport welcomed 2 million passengers in September

In September, 2 million passengers travelled via Brussels Airport, which is 80% of the number of passengers in September 2019. After the two holiday months, September is the third month in a row with more than 2 million passengers. On the cargo side, 66,000 tonnes of goods were handled, a decrease of 5% in volumes compared to last year.

Passenger traffic: 80% of the number of passengers in 2019

In September, 2,002,540 million passengers travelled via Brussels Airport, which is 80% of the number of passengers in September 2019. The strong recovery in passenger traffic that we saw during the summer holidays has continued after the holiday period, and business traffic also started to pick up again in September. In addition, there was still a higher number of travellers from the Netherlands who chose Brussels Airport to avoid the large crowds at Dutch airports.

The number of departing transfer passengers is 17%, which is comparable to September 2019. The transfer market has also recovered strongly in recent months.

The ten most popular countries in September were respectively Spain, Italy, Turkey, Germany, Greece, Portugal, the United States, France, Morocco and the United Kingdom. Turkey, Greece, Morocco and the United States in particular outperformed September 2019 results.

Cargo: 5% decrease in volumes compared to 2021

Cargo traffic at Brussels Airport decreased by 5% in September compared to September 2021 and increased by 30% compared to 2019. Air freight volumes also decreased by 5% compared to the previous year. In the full freighter segment we see a small decrease of 3%. On the other hand, belly cargo increased by 9%, due to the increase in the number of passenger flights.

The integrator segment was down 13%. Finally, trucked freight volumes also decreased by 6%. Cargo volumes are under pressure due to the current geopolitical situation and the disrupted energy market, the lockdowns in China and the impending recession and its impact on e-commerce.

Asia remains the largest import and export region, although volumes are somewhat lower than last year due to more limited available capacity and the temporary effects of the lockdowns in China. Africa is the second largest import region and the third export region. North America is the third import region and the second export region.

Flights

The total number of flight movements in September 2022 has increased by 24% compared to September 2021, to 17,377 flight movements, but this is still a drop of 19% compared to September 2019, before the crisis. The number of passenger flights is 75% of the number of passenger flights in September 2019. The average number of passengers per flight remains high, averaging 142 passengers per flight, compared to 132 in 2019. The occupancy rate of the flights therefore continues to rise, as does the deployment of larger aircraft.

The number of cargo flights has decreased by 14% compared to 2021.