Ground handling
- Baggage, ramp handling, freight and mail transport and catering transport
- Self-handling and third-party handling
- General Aviation
General information
Ground handling services are essential to the proper functioning of the airport. It is a generic term for a group of services provided by ground handling companies to airlines which include, amongst other things: the boarding of passengers, the loading and unloading of baggage, catering transport, aircraft maintenance, etc.
Following an application and corresponding authorization by Brussels Airport Company, any interested service provider may offer ground handling services and any airline operator may perform self-handling at Brussels Airport. Market access is legally restricted for the categories of baggage handling, ramp handling, freight and mail transport, catering transport and into plane fuelling.
For further information on self-handling and third-party handling applications, please refer to ‘Self-handling and Third-party Handling’ below
Baggage handling comprises the handling of baggage in the sorting area, sorting it, preparing it for departure, loading it on to and unloading it from the devices designed to move, etc.
The following companies provide baggage handling services at Brussels Airport during the current licence period from 28 October 2018 till 27 October 2025:
Aviapartner Belgium NV.
Alyzia SAS
Ramp Handling comprises marshalling the aircraft on the ground at arrival and departure, the loading and unloading of the aircraft, as well as baggage transport between the aircraft and the terminal, the moving of the aircraft at arrival and departure, the transport, loading on to and unloading from the aircraft, etc.
The following companies provide ramp handling services at Brussels Airport during the current licence period from 28 October 2018 till 27 October 2025:
Ramp handling of passenger aircraft:
Aviapartner Belgium NV.
Alyzia SAS
Ramp handling of full-freighter aircraft:
Swissport Cargo Services Belgium NV; Aviapartner Cargo NV; DNATA NV.
Freight & mail transport comprises the physical processing of freight and mail between the airport terminal and the aircraft, both on arrival and departure and also in relation to transit flights, with the exception of the transportation of valuables, transportation of human remains, transportation of live animals and conditioned transportation of pharmaceutical products, which are not subject to a restriction.
The following companies provide freight and mail transport services at Brussels Airport during the current licence period from 28 October 2018 till 27 October 2025:
Swissport Cargo Services Belgium NV; Aviapartner Cargo NV; DNATA NV.
Catering transport comprises the transport, loading and unloading of food and beverages (excl. tax free products/newspaper).
The following companies provide catering transport services at Brussels Airport during the current licence period from 28 October 2018 till 27 October 2025:
Gate Gourmet Belgium NV, Newrest Belgium S.A.R.L.
Ground handling service providers, interested in offering ground handling services at Brussels Airport, and airline operators that wish to perform “Self-handling”, need a ground handling authorisation of Brussels Airport Company.
Brussels Airport Company has set up an application procedure to officially authorize providers of ground handling services. To successfully apply for an authorization, the ground handling service provider must prove that the company has the necessary technical, operational and financial resources for the execution of its handling activities according to the current conditions and legal requirements at Brussels Airport. After positive verification of the criteria, mentioned in the application procedure, the ground handling service provider will be accepted.
Companies that wish to be active in one or more categories of ground handling services at Brussels Airport should have an approval prior to the start of these activities. For this purpose, the concerned companies should express as early as possible their interest in obtaining an approval.
To receive application documents for handling companies that would like to offer third-party ground handling services or airline operators that would like to perform “Self-handling”, please refer to the contact details below.
Christoph Van Hove
Regulations Manager
Brussels Airport Company
What is General Aviation?
General Aviation is a collective term for general aviation, business aviation and private charter aviation. These aviation operations are carried out in a separate area of the airport, both airside and landside (General Aviation Terminal).
For a complete definition of what is to be understood by General Aviation we refer to the definition laid down in the Royal Decree of 6 November 2010 on the access to the ground handling market at Brussels Airport, as modified by the Royal Decree of 23 November 2014.
Ground handling service providers, interested in offering ground handling services at Brussels Airport for general aviation, need a ground handling authorisation by Brussels Airport Company. Following an application and corresponding approval, any service provider may offer ground handling services at Brussels Airport.
For further information on the application procedure, please refer to the contact details below.
Christoph Van Hove
Regulations Manager
Brussels Airport Company
Today two companies provide ground handling services for General Aviation at Brussels Airport:
ExecuJet Belgium
Tel: +32 2 720 58 80
Fax: +32 2 721 22 88
Email: hostess.belgium@execujet.com
Hours of operation: Weekdays 07:00 - 22:00. Weekends and legal holidays 08:30 - 17:30. On request, 24/7.
Aviapartner Executive
Tel: +32 2 723 0697
Fax: +32 2 723 0695
Email: bru.executive@aviapartner.aero
Hours of operation: 06:00 – 23:00 LT (24/7 availability)