Vigorous Brussels sees 7.8% cargo surge in 2015

Brussels Airport saw “vigorous” 2015 full year freight volumes grow 7.8% to just over 489,000 tonnes, helped by the arrival of four new cargo carriers in the full freighter segment and the development of express services at the Belgian hub.
Arnaud Feist, chief executive of Brussels Airport Company, said: “The growth is all the more striking because airfreight transport in Europe looked bleak in the last 12 months."
Passenger aircraft bellyhold cargo continued a “status quo” in comparison with 2014, but the integrator and full-freighter transport segments  saw strong growth of 7% and 18.1% respectively over prior year 2014.
But a spokesperson for the European hub added: “It should however be noted here that Ethiopian Cargo stopped flying at Brussels Airport in November because the company did not obtain the requisite air traffic rights in Belgium to continue its activities in Brussels.
“This resulted in full-freighter volumes dropping by 25% in the last two months of the year compared with 2014.”
In December 2015, freight transport increased at Brussels Airport by 8% compared to same month 2014.
Added the spokesperson: “That growth is attributed to the sharp rise in express services and in belly cargo. The rise can be explained by the low figures for 2014 when there was no freight transport on the provincial and national strike days.”
Passenger numbers at Brussels grew 7% in the year to 23.4m, compared with a 15% increase in 2014. The 2015 passenger surge was due to new services offered by Brussels Airlines, from the further development of the Star Alliance hub (with ANA, among others) and from the strong growth of the low-cost segment.