Brussels Airport sets new record with more than 2.6 million passengers in a single month

Brussels Airport set a new passenger record in the month of July, with a growth of almost 4%. For the first time ever, the airport received more than 2.6 million passengers in a one month period. Driven by a sharp growth in belly cargo and trucked air cargo, the tonnage carried grew by 13.9% against July last year.

This July, Brussels Airport welcomed over 2.6 million passengers. That is 3.9% more than in July last year and an all-time passenger record. The number of originating passengers grew by 5.2% in comparison to July 2017. The increase is partly due to strong sales in leisure flights, in particular to holiday destinations such as Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia. The number of transfer passengers fell slightly, by 1.4% against the same period last year.

Long-haul traffic too continued to grow with a significant 16% in comparison to July last year. There was an increase in passengers to Asia and the Gulf region in particular, owing to new destinations such as Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Shanghai, as well as greater frequency and additional capacity on flights to Dubai, Bangkok and Doha.

On Friday, 20th July, Brussels Airport welcomed 94,928 passengers in one day: an all-time record.

Cargo

Cargo volumes at Brussels Airport increased in the month of July by 13.9% in comparison to July last year. Belly cargo in particular witnessed a strong growth of 29%. This growth can be attributed to the new long-haul flights to Asia and the Gulf by, among others, Hainan, Cathay Pacific and Emirates.

The full-cargo segment rose sharply by 14.7% compared to the same month last year. And trucked cargo also enjoyed a large increase of 21.2% compared to July last year. Total freight tonnage in express services remained virtually stable (-1.0%).

The export of goods rose sharply in July, by 12% compared to July 2017, and imports in particular made a significant jump with an increase of 33%. Imports from Asia, North and South America were largely responsible for this growth. In terms of export, South America is the first to stand out, by virtue of Latam's flights to Brazil and Chile which have been in operation since April this year.

Flights

The number of flight movements remained practically stable (+ 0.7%) against July last year. The number of passenger flights dropped by 0.9%, partly due to the two-day strike at Ryanair.

Due to the decrease in passenger flights volumes, the use of larger aircraft and improved occupancy rates, the average number of passengers per flight increased from 130 to a record high of 136 passengers per flight.