Belgian airports see record passenger numbers

Belgian airports welcomed a record number of passengers last year, with nearly 36.4 million travellers. This is higher than the previous record set in 2019, before the Covid pandemic.

Figures from recent weeks show that passenger numbers at Zaventem, Charleroi, Ostend, Antwerp and Liege were about 4.5 per cent higher than in 2024. This means around 850,000 more people travelled through these airports than in the former peak year.

The record is surprising because Brussels Airport, the country’s largest airport, has still not returned to its 2019 level. Passenger numbers there rose by 3.3 per cent to 24.4 million last year, but this is still almost two million fewer than in 2019.

This drop was balanced by strong growth at Charleroi Airport. Brussels South Charleroi Airport handled 11.2 million passengers, around three million more than in 2019. This was a new record for the airport.

The smaller airports of Ostend, Antwerp and Liege together handled nearly 800,000 passengers. Ostend and Antwerp saw growth, with 404,000 and 240,500 passengers. However, numbers fell at Liege Airport to 138,000. Earlier this year, its only passenger airline, TUI fly, left the airport.

Liege mainly focuses on cargo rather than passengers. It is the largest freight airport in Belgium. In 2025, total air cargo across Belgian airports rose to more than 2.1 million tonnes. This is still below the record of over 2.3 million tonnes set in 2021.

^{A Ryanair plane at Charleroi Airport © BELGA PHOTO JAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE}