In February, Brussels Airport welcomed over 1.5 passengers, a 14% increase from February 2023. Passenger numbers were positively impacted by the Carnival holidays, which spread over three non-consecutive weeks, and by the fact that the leap year meant that February had one extra day than in 2023. At the same time, air cargo volumes also increased by 4% to 49,000 tonnes.
Overall freight tonnages passing through Belgium’s Brussels Airport rose by more than 3% year on year in February 2023, reaching 59,019 tonnes.
Specifically air freight volumes (ie, not including trucked cargo) also enjoyed a 4% year-on-year rise, reaching 48,912 tonnes.
The full freighter segment saw an upturn of nearly 11%, while freight carried in the bellyholds of passenger aircraft rose by 21%, thanks to an increase in passenger flights through Belgium’s busiest air gateway.
Express service (integrator) cargo fell by 9.2% and trucked cargo volumes by 4.3% year on year.
Brussels’ biggest import markets are Asia (which saw a sizeable increase in volumes of 101% compared to February 2023), Africa (up by 17% year on year) and North America (down by 10% year on year)
Its main export market is also Asia, which saw a 31% fall in volumes, followed by North America (down by 20%) and Africa (down by 3%).
Over the first two months of this year, the total flown cargo figure reached 95,287 tonnes, up 4.9% year on year.
With trucked cargo down by 6.6%, total cargo passing through Brussels rose by 2.8% year on year in the first two months of this year compared to the same period of 2023.
