In July, the first month of the summer holidays, 2.3 million passengers travelled via Brussels Airport. An increase of 5% compared to July 2022. As this was the start of the summer holidays, there were more departing travellers. The holiday exodus was more staggered for the first time, with the new holiday scheme in French-language education. In July, cargo volumes decreased by 8% compared to the same period in 2022.

Passengers: +5% compared to July 2022

In July, Brussels Airport welcomed 2,333,665 passengers, which is a 5% increase compared to July 2022. This year, the holiday exodus was more staggered, since the summer holidays in the French-language schools began a week later than those in the Dutch-language schools. As this was the start of the summer holidays, there were more departing than arriving passengers.

The share of departing transfer passengers in July was 13%. A lower percentage than in other months, because of the high number of Belgian holiday travellers.

The ten most popular countries in July were Spain, Turkey, Greece, Germany, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom, respectively.

Cargo traffic: down by 8%

In July, the flown cargo volumes at Brussels Airport decreased by 8%, to a total of 48,193 tonnes. For the global cargo volume there is a decline of 11% compared to June 2022, to a total of 57,272 tonnes. This decline is largely due to a 24% decrease in trucked volumes.

The full-cargo segment showed a decline of 12%, in line with the global trend, while belly cargo showed a slight decline of 3%, just as the express services (-6%).

The primary import regions are Asia, Africa and North America. For export, Asia is also in first place, followed by North America and Africa.

Flight movements: +2% compared to July 2022

The number of flight movements in July 2023 rose by 2% compared to 2022. The number of passenger flights increased by 6% compared to 2022. On average, there were 150 passengers per flight, which is the same as in July 2022, thanks to the deployment of larger aircraft and a higher occupancy level per flight. The number of cargo flights decreased by 6% compared to July 2022.