In July, Brussels Airport for the first time in its history broke through the 2.5 million passengers mark. An absolute record and a 6.9% growth on the same month in 2016. Moreover, the airport for the first time ever exceeded the mark of 90,000 passengers on a single day. The busiest day was Friday 28 July when 94,305 passengers departed or arrived at Brussels Airport.
Passengers
In July this year, the airport received 2,565,044 passengers, a growth of 6.9% compared to July 2016. Last month, the mark of 90,000 passengers on a single day was exceeded for the first time, and this on 5 days with a new record of 94,305 travellers on Friday 28 July.
The number of originating passengers rose by 7.8% compared to July 2016, thanks to the revival in the local market in the summer. Contrary to the summer of 2016, Brussels Airlines attracted more local passengers. On the other hand, the number of transfer passengers in July dropped by 1.9%.
Growth was driven mainly by Brussels Airlines, on leisure flights, long-haul flights and European traffic. Low-cost traffic, in turn, has stabilised. The decline at EasyJet and Vueling was compensated by the growth of Ryanair, WOW Air, Eurowings, Air Arabia and Blue Air, and also by the introduction of several new destinations.
Cargo
Cargo traffic registered a 3.8% growth mainly due to the restart at full capacity of the long-haul passenger flights in July 2016 in the aftermath of the 22 March attacks. As a result, belly cargo increased with 13.9% compared to July 2016. Full-freighter transport, however, fell by 9.9%. Because of the stricter noise standards in Brussels, several airlines have left Brussels Airport or reduced their cargo volume. The express services (integrator) continue to show positive growth figures, with an increase of 8.2% in July over the same month last year.
Flight movements
Last month, the number of flight movements increased by 2.2% on July 2016. As the number of passengers grew faster than the number of flight movements, the seat occupancy rate on passenger flights increased by +4.8%. In July 2016, on average 124 passengers were on board, and in July this year, that total rose to 130 per flight.
