Brussels Airport has had its best summer ever

Brussels Airport recorded a total of 2.329 million passengers throughout 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 have 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 throughout the summer”.

Passengers

August 2014 saw double-digit growth with 18.7% more passengers compared to August 2013. This means 367,000 additional passengers. Belgian companies have recorded a very strong performance. This expansion has been observed in the local market (+17.5%) due to a desire for sunny European destinations to escape the bad weather in Belgium and the increased attraction of low-cost airlines. Some of the most popular destinations for travellers from Brussels Airport were Antalya, Barcelona, Lisbon, Rome and Madrid.
Transfer passengers have also increased (+21.9%) as a result of the Star Alliance hub role played by Brussels Airport in Europe.

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 has 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 3% compared to August 2013. The number of passengers per flight has increased to an average of 124. Compared to 2000, we have seen a drop of 25.5% in the number of movements and an increase of 46% in the number of passengers per flight.