A steady increase in passengers from Brussels Airport has been observed over the past several weeks as the holiday season sees international air travel increase.
On Wednesday, airport officials announced that figures were climbing gradually, despite having dropped to less than half pre-pandemic levels.
Almost 1.3 million passengers flew in July of this year, 46% lower than 2019 figures but over twice those of July 2020. Air freight continues to grow with volumes this month 32% greater than July 2020.
Whilst commercial air travel is far below pre-pandemic levels, a week-on-week improvement has been recorded this past month with figures for travel in July 2021 rising from 43% in the first week to 50% in the final week when compared with figures for the same weeks in July 2019.
As is typically the case at this time of year, Brussels Airport also saw more passengers departing than arriving.
Related News
- Pandemic pushes Brussels Airlines €143 million into the red
- EU flight slot policy could result in 'ghost flights' from Asia
- Young people and travellers causing rise in Brussels' infections
The ten most frequent destinations of the past month were: Spain, Greece, Italy, Marocco, Turkey, Portugal, France, Germany, the USA, and Switzerland. Morocco was especially popular with figures exceeding 2019 levels by 14%.
Expectedly, the airport observed a reduction in passengers visiting countries that are not yet fully open to holiday tourism such as Egypt, Tunisia, or the Caribbean.
Just as the total number of passengers is less than half of those flying in 2019, passenger flights have so far been 48% of July 2019 figures with an average of 122 passengers per flight, compared to 137 two years ago.
The 32% rise in air freight can be observed in three principal areas: full cargo (+26%), express services (+16%), and freight on passenger flights (+155%). Air freight is also expected to rise in the coming months.
The Brussels Times
