Over the two-month summer holidays, flown air cargo volumes at Brussels Airport fell slightly by 1% to 49,189 tonnes. The full cargo flight segment fell by 8%, in line with the trend worldwide, while belly cargo increased by 2%, as did the express services segment (+4%).

Overall air cargo volumes were down 6% on August 2022, totalling 58,376 tonnes. This decline was mainly due to a 27% drop in trucked air cargo.

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Passenger numbers: +5% compared with summer 2022 

The summer holidays were busy at Brussels Airport, with millions of holidaymakers passing through the airport heading off to a variety of sunny destinations. No fewer than 4.6 million passengers flew from Brussels Airport over the two-month period, an increase of 5% compared to the same period last year. Changes to the school calender at French-speaking schools have, however, impacted the number of passengers flying from Brussels Airport, in particular during the first week of July and the last week of August.

In August, 2,260,496 passengers travelled through Brussels Airport, an increase of 5% compared to August 2022. Nearly 200,000 more passengers were arriving than departing, which is to be expected at the end of the holiday season. The share of transfer passengers at departure was 15%, in particular on connecting flights between Europe and North America and Africa.

The top 10 countries in August were respectively Spain, Turkey, Greece, Germany, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, France, the US and the United Kingdom.

‘Passenger numbers at Brussels Airport over the summer holidays have been especially good,’ explained Arnaud Feist, CEO Brussels Airport Company. ‘The wide range of destinations across Europe and worldwide have tempted many holidaymakers, who were also no doubt keen to escape the continuing downpours in Belgium in July. Along with our partners, our priority was to welcome all our passengers safely and in the best possible comfort, with a focus on information and smooth operations. This summer has definitely been a great success for Brussels Airport.’

READ: Brussels Airport ships 48,000 tonnes of cargo

Flight movements: +1% compared with August 2022 

The number of flight movements rose slightly by 1% in August 2023 compared with 2022. The number of passenger flights was up by 3% compared with 2022. Each flight carried on average 148 passengers, i.e. three more than in August 2022, thanks to the use of bigger aircraft and a higher occupancy rate per flight. The number of cargo flights decreased by 3% compared to August 2022.