Almost 2 million passengers passed through Brussels Airport in November.

Over the course of November, Brussels Airport welcomed more than 2 million passengers, representing an increase of 2.7% compared to November 2018. Freight transport decreased by 12.1% compared to the same month last year. The number of flights was down by 3.4%.

Passengers

In November, Brussels Airport welcomed 1,992,452 passengers, up 2.7% on November 2018.

The number of originating passengers increased by 1.7% compared to November 2018, while the number of transfer passengers increased by 7.9% compared to the same month last year. This growth is mainly explained by the increase in the number of transfer passengers at Brussels Airlines, driven by the development of Brussels Airport as an important hub in the Star Alliance network.

The bankruptcy of Thomas Cook had only a minor effect in November because of the lower number of holiday flights. On the other hand, the bankruptcies of WOW Air, Fly bmi and Adria Airways had a more noticeable impact on the month’s results.

In the short- and medium-haul segment, the largest growth was recorded at Brussels Airlines, Ryanair, easyJet, TAP Air Portugal, AirBaltic, SAS, Loganair, Swiss, Iberia, Icelandair, Croatia Airlines, Corendon and Royal Air Maroc

Long-haul traffic continued to grow significantly by almost 10% in November. The strongest growth was at Ethiopian, Emirates, Brussels Airlines, Delta Air Lines, THAI, Etihad, United, Air Canada and Qatar.

Freight

Freight transport at Brussels Airport fell by 12.1% in November 2019 compared to November 2018. The negative trend over recent months continued, in line with trends in Europe and the rest of the world.

Flown cargo (-9.4%) and trucked air cargo (-19.5%) both decreased. The highest decrease in the first category is for belly cargo (-15.8%). The full freight volumes fell by 11.2%, while integrator services recorded a 3.2% decrease.

Flights

The number of flight movements fell by 3.4% compared with November 2018. The number of passenger flights decreased by 2.5%. The average number of passengers per flight went up 5% from 123 in November 2018 to 129 in November 2019.