Brussels Airport’s total cargo traffic grew by 6.9 per cent during the first half of the year compared to the same period last year with growth fuelled by an increase in belly and trucked cargo.
Air cargo tonnage via freighters, belly and integrators totalled 273,748 tonnes, a rise of 2.4 per cent, but trucked cargo volumes rose by 22.8 per cent to boost the total to 368,055 tonnes.
During the period, freighter tonnage declined by 7.9 per cent due to carriers leaving or withdrawing because of the stricter noise restrictions imposed by the Brussels Capital Region at the start of 2017.
However, this fall was offset in the first half of 2018 by a strong rise in belly cargo rise of 18.4 per cent to 80,500 tonnes due to new long-haul routes added by the likes of Hainan Airlines, Emirates and Cathay Pacific.
Integrator traffic was fairly stable rising slightly by 0.9 per cent to 111,908 tonnes, but trucked air cargo grew by 22.8 per cent to 93,307 tonnes in the period.
In June, total freight at Brussels Airport increased by 14.6 per cent to 63,254 tonnes, up on the 56,078 tonnes in June 2017.
Freighter traffic grew by 14.3 per cent last month to 13,169 tonnes, integrator tonnage fell 1.5 per cent to 18,912 tonnes, but belly cargo rose 24.3 per cent to 14,495 tonnes and trucked cargo was up 29 per cent to 17,679 tonnes.
Trucked cargo grew the strongest and the airport said it means it is carrying more goods to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Luxembourg and Paris airports than it loads onto passenger flights in Brussels, which “demonstrates the quality and strength of the logistical cargo platform but also the need for added capacity to meet this demand”.
Exports are continuing to grow (+11 per cent), half of which goes to Asia but imports (+24 per cent), largely hailing from Africa, North America and Asia, that are making a big forward leap.
