In January, Brussels Airport welcomed 1,155,000 passengers, an increase of 3% on the same month last year. The fact that the economy is declining is reflected in the number of originating passengers who start their trip at Brussels Airport: in this segment, we record a decrease of 0.6% compared to last year. Transfer traffic on the other hand continues to grow firmly with 24%, driven by the development of Star Alliance at Brussels Airport and a stronger economic growth outside of Europe. In the current economic situation this transfer growth is an important leverage for the network served from Brussels Airport and for the international accessibility of our country. The traffic segments recording the strongest growth are once again the Brussels Airlines network and the long haul segment.

The impact of the national strike of 30 January was limited to 10% of the flights and to about 0.3% of the growth in the month of January.

In January, cargo traffic decreased by 4.2% under the influence of a worldwide cargo market in decline. The strongest decrease was recorded in the full freight segment, which in spite of the expansion of the activities of Saudi Cargo, Singapore Airlines, Korean Air and EVA Airways dropped by 4.6%. Belly cargo (cargo carried on board of passenger aircraft) decreased by 3.3%.

In January, Brussels Airport recorded 16,227 flights, down 6.5% on last year. The decline occurred mainly during the holiday period in the first half of January.

Brussels Airport Press release 8 February 2012

With the installation of 7,220 solar panels, Brussels Airport adds its own source of renewable energy to its electricity network. The airport chose to use mono-crystalline solar panels with a total capacity of 1.7 MWp and an annual energy production of 1,500 MWh. This output is comparable to the annual energy consumption of about 450 families. The energy produced is injected straight into the airport’s power grid and will cover about 1% of the annual consumption of the airport.

After a successful trial project in 2010 involving solar panels being installed on the roof of a fire station, it was decided to have the roof of a large logistics building at Brucargo West covered with solar panels. The surface area of the roof is 30,000m², which is approximately the size of six soccer fields. The adjustment works to the roof structure and the installation of the solar panels took place this autumn.

Brussels Airport will also examine how it can further increase the share of solar energy in its power supply and is currently also looking into the use of other sustainable energy sources.

To Arnaud Feist, CEO of The Brussels Airport Company, the choice for solar energy was logical: “We have committed ourselves earlier to pursue a sustainable energy policy and significantly reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by signing up to the Airport Carbon Accreditation Scheme. For technical reasons, the share of sustainable energy sources in our total energy consumption remains rather modest for the time being, but on the total amount of energy used for 20,000 members of staff and 50,000 passengers a day, each percent is a major step forward.

Brussels Airport Press release, 12 January 2011

Last year ended with 18,786,034 passengers, up 9.3% on 2010. This growth rate is amongst the strongest in Europe and exceeds the world average of 5.1%.
All air passenger market segments have recorded strong growth, driven mainly by the strong performance of Brussels Airlines and the low cost carriers. Intercontinental traffic continued to do very well in 2011, after the already remarkable growth registered in 2010.

In December, Brussels Airport welcomed 1.25 million passengers: an increase by 6.1% over December 2010.


With 475,000 tonnes, the cargo volume carried was almost identical to that of 2010. Integrator traffic and cargo carried on board of passenger aircraft (belly cargo) increased strongly. Considered over the whole year, full freighter traffic registered a slight decrease, to pick up again to grow strongly in the second semester. In December a growth of 7,3% was recorded, one of the best performances in the European aviation sector in spite of the worldwide pressure on cargo traffic. This result confirms the position of Brussels Airport as the most important cargo airport in Belgium when adding up flown and trucked cargo.

In 2011 the number of aircraft movements increased by 3.6% totalling to 234,000 movements due to the increase of both passenger and cargo flights.



Brussels Airport Press release, 12 January 2012

As from January 2012 the arrivals curb will be reorganised and renovated in different stages to benefit passenger safety and comfort. To ensure a smooth traffic flow and guarantee the various functions of the curb during the works, the renovation will be spread over the next few years.

The first stage starts on 9 January 2012: the passenger pick-up spaces will be eliminated and replaced by a waiting area for arriving passengers from which they can be easily picked up. This change aims to improve the safety of the passengers and the people coming to pick them up as well as an improved vehicle flow. The new traffic situation will be closely monitored by the federal police with extra police agents and additional on-site cameras.

Those who still wish to park their car can use one of the car parks in front of the terminal. Vans and other vehicles with a height of 2.10m or more can park at the coach park.

The renovation work will improve traffic safety as well as the sense of security passengers experience in this covered area. The next stages of the renovation include a thorough renovation of the technical infrastructure, improved lighting and reduced carbon emissions. In time, Brussels Airport intends to make the arrivals curb a low-traffic or even no-traffic area as is already the case at many large airports around the globe.

The traffic situation on the departures curb remains unchanged.

Brussels Airport, January 6, 2012

Brussels Airport ends the year 2011 with over 18.7 million passengers, up about 9% on 2010.

Transfer passenger numbers in particular grew strongly, driven by the ongoing expansion of Brussels Airlines and Star Alliance. The number of transfer passengers increased by more than 30%.

With this result, Brussels Airport positions itself among the strongest growers in the European airport industry, which especially in the past few months has felt the impact of the weakening global economy.

Both the average seat capacity and load factor of the aircraft continue to increase, which is important for the efficient use of the airport infrastructure.

In 2011, Brussels Airport welcomed three new airlines: Qatar Airways, Belle Air and Thai Airways International. 12 new routes were opened.

Cargo traffic at Brussels Airport likewise did well in 2011. Whereas at many European airports, cargo volumes have been declining strongly since the summer, the volume at Brussels Airport remained almost stable with over 470,000 tonnes carried, driven by a strong second semester of 2011.

Major cargo airlines including Korean Air Cargo, Singapore Airlines Cargo, Saudi Airlines Cargo and EVA Airways Cargo invested in additional flights and capacity. DHL integrator traffic recorded a strong growth in 2011.

In 2011, 88 passenger and cargo airlines served 230 different nonstop destinations from Brussels Airport.

The final figures for 2011 will be published in the course of January.

Press release Brussels Airport, 30 December 2011