Over the course of the two-week-old winter holiday period in Belgium Brussels Airlines is expecting to carry almost 300,000 passengers, while its hub, Brussels Airport, is bound to welcome over 850,000 passengers.
1. Brussels Airlines
Although the official holiday started on Saturday, 23 December, Brussels Airlines said Friday, 22 December, was the busiest day of the entire holiday period, with over 24,000 passengers booked on Brussels Airlines’ flights. The second busiest day of the end-of-year holiday will be Friday, 29 December, with over 21,000 passengers. On the other hand, 24 December and 31 December are the least popular travel days, with 11,000 and 10,000 passengers booked on those days, respectively.
Over 228,000 passengers are travelling on the short and medium haul network, in Europe, with Rome being the most popular destination, followed by Malaga, Barcelona and Vienna. While only a minority of almost 68,000 passengers are flying long haul, the seat load factor on long haul flights is higher than average at 87.2%. New York is the most popular long haul destination, followed by Dakar and Kinshasa.
2. Brussels Airport
At Brussels Airport, over 850,000 passengers are expected from Friday, 22 December, to Sunday, 7 January, a 3% increase from last year. Similarly with Brussels Airlines, Friday, 22 December, was the busiest period, with nearly 60,000 passengers in total, of which just over 32,000 departing passengers.
The airport has extended its offer to 135 destinations around the world for the winter holidays, including a few newcomers such as Amman (Royal Jordanian) and Jeddah (Flynas). More capacity is also foreseen towards Doha (Qatar Airways), Abu Dhabi (Etihad Airways), as well as to Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria (TUI fly).
The airport has prepared to match travellers’ cheerful spirit this season, with thousands of sparkling lights, dozens of Christmas trees and typical Christmas decorations, such as the magical sled of Santa Claus, an XXL armchair or a giant Christmas bauble that illuminates the area in front of the departures hall. Santa Claus and his little Elves will also be greeting children after security check.
Moreover, between 22 December 22 and 4 January, several DJs are taking turns to entertain guests at Pier A in the Après Sky DJ Booth. Passengers can also send postcards to their loved ones or take a photo in front of one of the snowy displays, which is then printed and put in a snow globe to create a unique Christmas souvenir or gift. Finally, passengers can contribute to a good cause by buying one of the special red Christmas baubles, all profits from these sales being donated to the Make a Wish Foundation.
