Passengers
In February, Brussels Airport handled over 1.5 million passengers. The growth of 11.2% compared to February 2015 is, to a small degree, due to the leap day. When, however, the calculations are made with 28 days as in 2015, there is still a strong growth of 7.8% compared to last year.The number of originating departing passengers was up 8.1% on February last year. The number of transfer passengers grew with 21.3% compared to February 2015 thanks to the growth of Brussels Airlines and the other Star Alliance partners at Brussels Airport.
The biggest growth was achieved at Brussels Airlines – where the African destinations in particular performed strongly – as well as in the low-cost and long-haul segments.
Cargo
The total cargo volume at Brussels Airport dropped by 1.8%. The decline has been kept this low thanks to the extra day in February, which accounts for 3% of the total volume of the month. Thanks primarily to the leap day, belly cargo (cargo carried on board of passenger flights) rose by 4.3% and the volume of integrator cargo rose by 2.9% in comparison with February last year.
The full-freighter volume dropped by 14.5% compared to last year. This loss is entirely due to the departure of Ethiopian Cargo.
Thanks to the amendment of the bilateral agreement with Ethiopia, the federal government has created the possibility of having this cargo volume once again transported via Brussels Airport. The airport is consulting with the company about a return.
Flight movements
The number of flight movements at Brussels Airport rose by 4.3% in comparison with
February 2015. The increase is largely due to the extra day in February.
In comparison with the increase in passengers (11.2%), the increase in the number of
flight movements is a good 60% lower. The average number of passengers per flight rose
sharply from 99 passengers per flight in February 2015 to 104 passengers in February
2016.
