Brussels Airport says it saw a “vigorous” 7.8 per cent growth in freight in 2015 compared to 2014, which was driven by the full freighter segment and express services.
The airport says it is an exceptionally strong result in comparison with other European airports where freight transport has grown only slightly or even decreased.
Brussels Airport Company chief executive officer, Arnaud Feist says: ”Our freight department saw exceptional growth of almost 8% in 2015, thanks to the arrival of 4 new cargo carriers. The growth is all the more striking because airfreight transport in Europe looked bleak in the last 12 months.
“2016 is looking very promising, with the launch of several new destinations, by Brussels Airlines, among others, which is launching a direct flight to Toronto in March and will be increasing its flights to Africa in the course of the year, and by United Airlines which will be offering a second daily flight to New York this summer.”
Belly cargo remained status quo in comparison with 2014 the airport says, but the express services (integrator) and especially full-freighter transport saw strong growth of seven per cent and 18.1 per cent respectively compared to 2014.
The gateway says it should however be noted that Ethiopian Cargo stopped flying at Brussels Airport in November because the company did not obtain the requisite air traffic rights in Belgium to continue its activities in Brussels. This resulted in full-freighter volumes dropping by 25 per cent in the last two months of the year compared with 2014.
In December 2015 freight transport increased at Brussels Airport by eight per cent compared to December 2014. That growth is attributed to the sharp rise in the express services and in belly cargo. The rise can be explained by the low figures for 2014 when there was no freight transport on the provincial and national strike days.
