Brussels Airport welcomes again one million passengers in one month

For the first time since the pandemic, Brussels Airport again received more than one million passengers in one month. In July, the airport welcomed 1 268 257 passengers, it announced Wednesday. The number of passengers was more than twice as high as in July 2020. But compared to times before corona, Zaventem airport is not yet at the halfway mark.

Holiday flights, especially within Europa, naturally positively impact the figures, as did trips to visit family or to go to a second residence. Spain, Greece, Italy, Morocco, and Turkey were the five most popular destinations in July. The top ten is further completed by Portugal, France, Germany, the USA, and Switzerland.

However, there is also a negative impact from the important holiday countries that are not yet accessible for organized holidays, such as Egypt, Tunisia, Cape Verde, and the Caribbean.

Cargo on the rise

In the first seven months of 2021, Brussels Airport welcomed 3,2 million passengers. That is about a fifth of the number of travellers in the first seven months of 2019. The number of passenger flights also decreased by 48% compared to July 2019. On average, there were 122 passengers per flight, compared to 137 two years ago. Brussels Airport also recorded more departing passengers than arriving passengers during this month, as is always the case for this period.

The Cargo department continues to do well. In July, almost 75 000 tonnes of cargo were handled at Brussels Airport, over a third more than July 2019 and July 2020. After seven months, the counter stands at 490 000 tonnes of cargo. That is 36% more than in the same period last year and over a quarter more than in the first seven months of 2019.

Delta now offers Thalys journey’s to Belgium from Schiphol hub

And the American airline Delta Air Lines is offering passengers who land at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport and want to travel to Belgium also the option to do so on the Thalys train. From now on, passengers will be able to book the train ticker together with the plane ticket. Those who wish to do can still transfer to a KLM flight to Brussels. But from now on, they can also board the Thalys to Antwerp and Brussels with one booking.

Conversely, you can also take the high-speed train from Belgium to Schiphol to board a plane to the US with a single reservation. At the end of March 2020, KLM already canceled one of its daily flights between Amsterdam and Brussels, replacing it with a train ride with Thalys.

Delta Air Lines does not fly to Brussels Airport now but is planning to restart its service to New York (JFK Airport) at the end of October, a company spokesperson says. This is also confirmed by Brussels Airport.