Best Summer ever at Brussels Airport

Brussels Airport welcomed a total of 2.329 million passengers during the month of August 2014, which is an increase of 18.7% compared to August 2013. With more than 4.7 million passengers in July and August combined, summer 2014 ended with a new record for Brussels Airport. These two months exceeded the figures achieved in July 2000 by 6.4%.

Record Summer:

Arnaud Feist, CEO of the Brussels Airport Company said: “We already experienced a record month in July. The figures for August are also remarkable. Our staff have sought to maintain the same quality of service throughout these peak periods. Excellent communication and the fact that our staff are always on hand on the ground has enabled us to offer the 4.7 million travellers easy passage during the summer travel season”.

Passenger numbers

August 2014 again saw double-digit growth with 18.7% more passengers compared to August 2013. This means 367,000 additional passengers. Belgian airlines recorded a very strong performance. The expansion was seen both in the local market (+17.5%) and in the number of passengers making a connection at BRU. Some of the most popular destinations for travellers from Brussels Airport were Antalya, Barcelona, Lisbon, Rome and Madrid.

Transfer passenger numbers increased by an astonishing +21.9% as a result of Brussels Airlines and its Star Alliance partners improving connectivity.

Freight

The cargo transport business witnessed a moderate increase (+1.2%) compared to August 2013. The full freighter activity continues to decrease due to the slowdown in economic activity Europe-wide as confirmed by IATA. By contrast, integrator traffic (DHL) was on the up (+30%) during the month of August and freight on board passenger aircraft increased by 10.9%.

Flights

The number of flights increased by 11%. This rise is explained above all by an increase of 11.7% in the number of passenger flights. The load factor of flights has risen to 81.2%, an increase of 3pcp compared to August 2013. The number of passengers per flight further increased to an average of 124. Compared to 2000, we have seen a drop of 25.5% in the number of aircraft movements and an increase of 46% in the number of passengers per flight.