Brussels Airport reaches more than 1 million passengers in March, still 56% of 2019

Brussels Airport celebrates the month of March as the best month of 2022 so far, with more than 1.1 million passengers passing by the airport. It means an increase of 500% in comparison with March 2021 and a decline of 44% compared to the same month before the Covid crises (2019). 

In total, the airport in the Belgian capital welcomed 1,128,791 passengers in March, a number that is no less than six times as many as in March 2021 (187,000 passengers) when non-essential travel was still banned, and a decline of 44% compared to March 2019 (nearly 2 million passengers). 

The ten most visited countries in March were, respectively, Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, France, Turkey, the United States, the United Kingdom and Morocco. The ten most popular destinations were Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Rome, Geneva, Milan, Istanbul, Malaga, Dubai and London. ​ 

The Easter holidays have not yet had an impact on the figures for March, since the holiday exodus only began on Friday 1 April. 

The share of transfer passengers is 14%, which is 4 percentage points lower than in 2019 due to the strong increase in local outgoing traffic and the decline in the number of transfers between the European destinations. 

Slight decline of cargo volumes

The flown cargo volumes have remained stable compared to last year (+0.1%), the trucked volumes on the other hand saw a decline of 13%. 

Asia remains the largest export region and is the second largest region for import. Africa is, for the second consecutive month, the largest import region, with volumes that are 30% higher than last year. 

In March, the total cargo transport at Brussels Airport decreased slightly by 3% compared to March 2021. The air cargo volumes remained stable with +0.1%. 

The full-cargo segment showed a decline of -10% while belly cargo rose by 81.4% due to the increase in the number of passenger flights. The express services saw a decline of 10% due to the weakening growth of the e-commerce market in Western Europe and the temporary shift of DHL flights to other regional hubs. The trucked volumes declined by 13%. 

In March, the milestone of 1 billion handled Covid-19 vaccines was reached at Brussels Airport. Since the start of the worldwide distribution of vaccines in November 2020, Brussels Airport has been the preferred hub for this important and delicate pharma transport. 

^{Flight movements}

In March 2022, the total number of flight movements rose by 154% compared to 2021, with 13,129 flight movements (compared to 18,126 in 2019). The number of passenger flights increased with 348% compared to 2021, which is 61% of the number of passenger flights in March 2019. Each flight had an average of 119 passengers on board compared to 129 in 2019. The number of cargo flights decreased this month by 2.5% compared to 2021. ​ 

(VIV)

Header image: ​ © BELGA PHOTO (ERIC LALMAND) Passengers at the arrival hall at Brussels Airport, in Zaventem, Monday 13 September 2021.