Sharp drop in passenger flights compared to last year. Cargo continues to grow.
The total number of flight movements at Brussels Airport decreased by -60.8% in August 2020 compared to August 2019. The number of passenger flights decreased by -69.4% due to the coronavirus crisis, while the number of cargo flights increased by +32.2%.
In August 567,223 passengers passed through Brussels Airport, down -78.5% on August 2019. Of these, 251,013 were departing passengers and 316,210 were arriving passengers, a difference that is normal at the end of the holiday period. The number of transfer passengers fell by -89.4%, but despite the crisis represents 10% of all departing passengers.
Air cargo traffic on the other hand saw an increase in volumes transported, up +4.7% compared with August 2019. With this result, Brussels Airport is doing a lot better than the overall trend since, on a global scale, cargo traffic is continuing to fall largely due to the very steep decrease in belly cargo which covers 50% of the volumes transported around the world.
Express services recorded an increase of +18.7%, while full cargo volumes are increasing by +72.8%. This strong growth compensates for the lack of cargo capacity on board of passenger aircraft (-62%). Additional flights are operated by modern full cargo planes, as well as passenger aircraft which are converted for freight transport. These additional operations are mainly carried out during the day, which means that the number of night flights at Brussels Airport is not increasing.