Brussels Airport’s tonnage grew year-on-year (YOY) by 13.9 per cent in July fuelled by sharp growth in belly and trucked volumes.
The Belgian gateway handled 62,045 tonnes in the month, up on the 54,471 tonnes in the same month last year.
Belly cargo increased a substantial 29 per cent in the month to 14,440 tonnes, which was attributed to new long-haul flights to Asia and the Gulf by, among others, Hainan Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Emirates.
The freighter segment rose sharply by 14.7 per cent compared to the same month last year with 13,229 tonnes processed while trucked cargo also enjoyed a sizeable increase of 21.2 per cent compared to July last year at 16,099 tonnes.
Total freight tonnage in express services from the likes of DHL, and FedEx remained virtually stable falling a one per cent to 18,277 tonnes.
Brussels Airport said exports rose sharply in July, by 12 per cent compared to July 2017, and imports in particular made a significant jump with an increase of 33 per cent. Imports from Asia, North and South America were largely responsible for this growth.
For exports, South America was the main growth driver, by virtue of LATAM’s flights to Brazil and Chile which have been in operation since April this year.
So far this year from January to July, Brussels Airport has handled 430,100 tonnes, a 7.9 per cent rise on the 398,758 tonnes in the same seven months last year.
