Cargo volumes at Brussels Airport grew by 2.5 per cent last month to 58,051 tonnes against the previous September fuelled by increasing belly and freighter tonnage.
In the third quarter, 177,330 tonnes of cargo were transported at the Belgian gateway, an increase of 7.7 per cent compared to the same period last year. In the first nine months of the year, volumes are up 7.2 per cent to 545,385 tonnes.
During September, the freighter sector was up 9.5 per cent to 13,329 tonnes, but is down by three per cent to 120,919 tonnes from January to September.
Belly cargo was up nine per cent to 12,736 tonnes last month and recorded the highest growth. In the first three quarters of 2018, it is up 18.4 per cent to 120,958 tonnes and continues to fuel tonnage growth in Brussels.
Integrator services declined 4.2 per cent in September to 17,806 tonnes, which the airport said was due to a number of cancelled flights by DHL. In the first nine months of the year, the sector is flat and fell slightly by 0.1 per cent to 165,508 tonnes.
Last month, trucked cargo retained the status quo falling slightly by 0.2 per cent to 14,179 tonnes and so far this year it is up 18.6 per cent to 138,000 tonnes.
The airport said: “Strong growth in cargo on board passenger aircraft is due to the new routes to Asia operated by Cathay Pacific and Hainan Airlines, and to Emirates’ doubling of capacity to the Gulf region.
“These new routes and additional capacity also account for the sharp 21% rise in imports via Brussels Airport last month, whilst exports retained the status quo in comparison to the previous September.
“The full-cargo segment caught up on the previous year, thanks to new routes and customers such as Latam and Atlas Air.”
