More than 1,6 million passengers in March traveled through Brussels Airport, an increase of 42% compared to March 2022. Furthermore, the share of departing transfer passengers was over 17%, an increase of 84% compared to 2022. Brussels Airport reported this.

The increase is partly due to the (extended) semester break in French-speaking schools and the Easter holidays in Dutch-speaking schools. This translated into a higher number of arriving passengers in the first week of March and a higher number of departing passengers at the end of the month. In turn, freight volumes experienced an 8% decline.

Destinations to the sun

The monthly figures show that intercontinental traffic has resumed fully after the pandemic. For the airport, these figures “confirm Brussels Airport’s position as an important hub for Brussels Airlines and its intercontinental and European partners”.

March’s ten most popular countries were Spain, Germany, Italy, the US, the UK, France, Switzerland, Portugal, Turkey, and Morocco.

Cargo slightly down

Last month, freight volumes at Brussels Airport thus decreased by 8% compared to March 2022 and reached 66 225 tons, mainly due to a 27% decrease in trucking volumes.

Compared to March 2022, flown cargo volumes decreased by 3%. However, the entire cargo segment continued to grow by 4% in March, while cargo carried on board passenger aircraft increased slightly by 1%. The express segment, on the other hand, decreased by 9%. Asia, Africa, and North America are the main importing and exporting regions.

And after a 10-year absence, Brussels Airport will welcome airline Royal Jordanian Airlines back to the tarmac at the end of October. It will fly twice a week to and from Amman.

Solution to noise pollution

Furthermore, Mobility Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo) wants to put a solution to noise pollution around Brussels Airport on the table before the summer break, which starts on 21 July.

The dossier has been giving politicians headaches for years. But, according to Gilkinet, it has also cost the federal government over 24 million euros in penalties and lawyers since 2015.

A recent study commissioned by the Bond Beter Leefmilieu shows that flights at Brussels Airport annoy 220 000 residents. The health damage cost would amount to more than 1 billion euros a year.