Passenger traffic more than doubled at Brussels Airport in 2022 compared to 2021 with almost 19 million people travelling through it. “After two complicated years, marked by the Covid crisis and the travel restrictions it entailed, Brussels Airport posted very strong growth in 2022”, said the airport’s CEO, Arnaud Feist.
1. Passengers
In 2022, 18,930,698 passengers travelled through Brussels Airport. This represents an increase of 102% compared to 2021 (9.4 million passengers), reaching almost 72% of the 2019 level (26.4 million passengers).
After a first half of the year still heavily impacted by Covid-related travel restrictions, holiday traffic, as well as travel to visit friends and relatives, picked up during the summer months to reach over 80% of pre-Covid traffic from July to October.
Since last summer, our network has been almost completely rebuilt and for several months we attained 80% of the 2019 passenger figures.
Arnaud Feist, CEO Brussels Airport
From the autumn onwards, a tangible upturn in business travel was also observed, as well as a growth in the number of connecting passengers, marking a significant recovery in the hub activity linked to Brussels Airlines and its Star Alliance partners. The share of outbound transfer passengers was 15% compared to 18% in 2019, the recovery also being particularly marked during the second half of the year.
December saw 1.457 million passengers, 77% of the number recorded in 2019. After hitting over 80% of the 2019 figures for four consecutive months, the months of November and December traditionally attract fewer holidaymakers. As was the case for the nationwide protests on 9 November, the national industrial action day on 16 December also had a negative impact of around 30,000 passengers.
2. Flights
The number of flight movements in 2022 increased by 51% compared to 2021, totalling to 178,930, but remaining 24% below the pre-crisis 2019 figures. The number of passenger flights rose sharply by 73% compared to 2021, a year marked by numerous restrictions, bringing the number of passenger flights to 69% of the 2019 figures.
The number of passengers per flight is 135, an increase of almost 4% compared to 2019. A record for Brussels Airport and further confirmation of the deployment of larger, more modern and quieter aircraft and improved occupancy rates.
The top ten destinations passengers flew to from Brussels Airport in 2022 were Spain, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Portugal, the USA, France, Greece, the UK and Morocco. Turkey, Greece and Morocco even surpassed the record 2019 results.
