Unique cooperation between Brussels Airport, Liege Airport, and Ostend-Bruges Airport for digitalisation of cargo customs processes

Brussels Airport, Liege Airport, and Ostend-Bruges Airport are aligning their approaches to the new digital support system for cargo companies’ customs processes. This is being coordinated by air cargo operator Air Cargo Belgium in collaboration with LGG Connect. Through the airports’ community platforms, companies will be able to uniformly exchange customs declarations for import, export, and transit with Belgian customs. To enable this, the airports use the same principles and interfaces, each on their own platform. This unified approach will facilitate customs processes, further strengthening Belgium’s position as a logistics hub for international trade. In the coming months, this unified approach will be developed and rolled out.

Today, air cargo companies still exchange part of the electronic customs messages with Customs and Excise through the Paperless Customs and Excise system. Meanwhile, the transition to MASP-C has been initiated, the European multi-annual strategic plan for the modernisation of customs. Within the framework of MASP-C, cargo companies will be able to smoothly follow the further digitalisation of customs processes at the European level through their airport’s community platforms. ​

Specifically, air cargo companies will be able to submit their Temporary Storage Declarations digitally via a new portal on their airport’s data platform: BRUCloud for the cargo community at Brussels Airport and LGG Tracking at Liege Airport. Both platforms will work in the same way for exchanging customs messages. They will also each be separately connected to electronic customs systems for further processing and follow-up of declarations. The customs office’s counter notification is then sent back to the companies via the portal.

Unified approach increases efficiency of customs processes ​

The standardised approach not only leads to more efficient customs processes, but also strengthens Belgium’s position as a logistics hub for international trade. Indeed, one uniform way of working across different airports will make it even easier and more attractive for foreign companies to import and export through Belgian airports.

Unique cooperation within Belgian aviation

To develop this new digital approach, Brussels Airport and Liege Airport are joining forces, a unique collaboration in the Belgian aviation sector. Ostend-Bruges Airport is also joining the initiative. The project is coordinated by Air Cargo Belgium, which represents the interests of cargo companies at Brussels Airport and LGG Connect, the Liege airport community organisation. In the coming months, the digital portal will be further developed to be operational before the end of 2026. ​

“Brussels Airport has been committed to the digitalisation of cargo processes for years. The development of this new digital integration is fully in line with our strategy to further strengthen the efficiency of air cargo operations through innovative and digital solutions. At the same time, we are contributing to a unified approach at the Belgian level, making Brussels Airport and our country even more interesting as a logistics hub for international trade,” said Arnaud Feist, CEO of Brussels Airport. ​

“Thanks to its unique relationship with our operational stakeholders, Air Cargo Belgium enjoys the full confidence of both the General Administration of Customs & Excise (AAD&A) and our members. Our recent accession to the National Forum Steering Committee at the AAD&A confirms this mandate. This builds upon the cooperation agreement (BAC-ACB-AAD&A) of 2023 and the MoU we signed with our handlers in 2024, each time focusing on uniform, digital customs development for the entire air cargo sector,” said Freek De Witte, Director at Air Cargo Belgium. ​

“This collaboration reflects our shared ambition to strengthen Belgium’s position as a leading European logistics hub. At Liege Airport, we strongly believe in digital innovation and seamless cooperation across the cargo ecosystem to improve transparency, efficiency, and compliance in international trade flows. At Liege Airport, cargo is at the heart of our strategy. This joint initiative is a concrete step towards more efficient, transparent, and digitally enabled cargo operations across Belgium, benefiting our customers, partners, and authorities alike.”, said Laurent Jossart, CEO Liege Airport.