Passenger loads improve at Brussels airport

21 April 2005

BRUSSELS – Brussels National Airport has reported a recent rise in passenger figures thanks partly to increased travel during the Easter holidays.

The airport better known as Zaventem located to the northeast of Brussels had a total number of 1.2 million passengers in March, a 6.5 percent increase over the previous year.

The number of movements (takeoffs and landings) has decreased by 3% in the same period, indicating a further significant improvement in load factors.

Charter passenger numbers also increased 16% largely due to special holiday offers. But intra-EU traffic was down 4.4%, an obvious result of last year s enlargement of the European Union by 10 new countries.

At the same time Belgian carrier SN Brussels and UK-based budget airline Virgin Express have announced direct services to several new destinations.

SN will start flying from Brussels to Glasgow, Scotland, in June, as well as into Cork, Ireland, Jersey (Channel Islands) and Bari, Italy in July and August.

Virgin starts operating two new routes in May, to Murcia, Spain, and Catania, Sicily, and will add Toulon, France, to its list of destinations from 1 June.

Meanwhile the Turkish Corendon Airlines has just started operating a service between Brussels and Istanbul and will start direct flights to Antalya from 1 July.

The improved passenger load figures and route expansions are good news for Zaventem, which has lost some business to Wallonia s rival Charleroi airport.

Earlier this month, the Belgian media reported that around 10 routes at Zaventem have suffered since the arrival of Irish cut-price Ryanair at the smaller airport in 2001.

Subject : Belgian news