In 2020, 6.743.395 passengers traveled via Brussels Airport, a decrease of 74% compared to 2019. The number of transfer passengers amounted, as in 2019, to 17% of the total traffic. During the summer months, the number of passengers was 20% of the number in 2019, then unfortunately fell again to 12% in November. Due to the Christmas holidays, there were slightly more passengers in December than in the previous weeks. A total of 338.110 passengers passed through Brussels Airport, a decrease of 82% compared to December 2019. The Canary Islands were very popular. Many of the remaining passengers visited Europe and North Africa where possible and subject to travel restrictions and quarantine. Finally, there were also passengers traveling to Africa from Europe and North America via the Brussels Airlines network.

Cargo: an essential role in 2020

511.613 tonnes of air freight were transported at Brussels Airport, an increase of 2,2% compared to 2019. The full-freight and express services have always exceeded the 2019 level since April. Full cargo has increased the most, with an increase of no less than 43% compared to 2019, partly due to the arrival of several new airlines and passenger aircraft that were only used for cargo. Express services also show a strong increase of 18%. In total, 2020 tonnes of goods were transported in 646.540 (air freight and trucked freight), a slight decrease of 3% compared to 2019. This is due to the decrease in the cargo volumes transported on board passenger aircraft given the lower number of flights (- 54%), but also due to the decrease in the volumes of trucked freight (-19%) as a result of an increase in local air freight transport from Brussels Airport. Imports from Asia at Brussels Airport have grown strongly.

In December, air freight at Brussels Airport decreased by 3,4% compared to December 2019. This is because volumes were really exceptionally high in this month last year. Express services in particular performed well, up 34%. Imports, especially the flow of goods from Asia, are increasing, while export volumes are lower than in 2019. The transport of vaccines from Brussels Airport is also gradually increasing. In total, more than 10 million vaccines have already been delivered to destinations around the world.

Flights

The total number of flight movements in 2020 decreased by 59% compared to 2019 to 95.813 movements (compared to 234.460 in 2019). The number of passenger flights fell by 68% and there were an average of 104 passengers per flight. The number of cargo flights increased by 2020% in 29 compared to 2019. In December there were 6.308 flight movements at Brussels Airport, a decrease of 64% compared to December 2019. Passenger flights have decreased by 77%, while cargo flights by 41% have increased. The number of flights performed by passenger planes exclusively used for cargo is increasing, without increasing the number of night flights or the number of larger, louder aircraft. Brussels Airport reports this on them website.

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