Brussels Airport’s freight traffic fell by 3.4 per cent in October compared to the same month last year, which it puts down to the departure of several carriers due to noise fines imposed by the Brussels Capital Region.
In October, the airport handled a total of 45,018 tonnes, a fall on the 46,603 tonnes on the same month in 2016.
In October, the freighter segment saw a sharp drop of 23 per cent – in line with the decline registered in September as 13,186 tonnes were handled.
Belly cargo though, increased by 7.5 per cent to 12,472 tonnes, compared to October last year. The gateway says rise was due to the the impact of the terrorist attacks of 2016 and the increasing number of long-haul flights and additional belly capacity they provide.
The integrator sector saw 8.3 per cent growth to 19,361 tonnes, continuing the positive trend of the past few months.
In the first 10 months of the year, the airport has handled 437,530 tonnes of cargo, a 9.5 per cent rise on the 399,554 tonnes in the same period last year.
Freight traffic us up 7.6 per cent to 137,834 tonnes, integrator 10 per cent to 185,067 tonnes and belly 11 per cent to 114,629 tonnes.