Brussels Airport, pax up first time since March attack

In November 2016, Brussels Airport (BRU) welcomed 1.74 million passengers, an increase of 2.9% year over year and the highest number of passengers ever recorded in a month of November. At the same time, cargo traffic grew by a strong 15.2% YoY.

The airport explained that for the first time since the attacks on 22nd of March 2016, Brussels Airport can again report growth in the number of passengers.

The growth in November 2016 is largely driven by the strong performance of Brussels Airlines and Ryanair, but other intra-European scheduled flights also recorded growth in November 2016. The number of originating passengers increased by 2.4% YoY. After the sharp rise in recent months, the number of transfer passengers has stabilized at -0.2%.

Cargo traffic at Brussels Airport continued the strong growth it has shown in previous months to record a 15.2% YoY. Belly cargo, cargo carried on board passenger flights, dropped by 11.4% YoY.

The number of flight movements in November 2016 dropped by 1.5% YoY. At the same time, the average seat occupancy rate on passenger flights has risen from 106 to 111 passengers per flight.