The passenger count for the period from January to June reached 11,684,976. “This growth is due to strong demand for air travel and the further expansion of the network,” said Brussels Airport in a press release. During the first half of the year, eight new destinations were launched, including five intercontinental routes. Since early June, the airport has been connected to Latin America for the first time since 2000, thanks to flights operated by LATAM Airlines to and from the Brazilian city of São Paulo.
These positive developments outweighed the negative passenger impact of factors such as the conflict in the Middle East, which resulted in no flights to the Israeli city of Tel Aviv and fewer flights to the Gulf states. Additionally, there were several national days of action and a strike by air traffic controllers at skeyes. These affected tens of thousands of travellers, but in the first half of 2025, disruptions caused by such actions were far more severe.
Cargo traffic at Brussels Airport also increased in the first six months of 2026 by 8.3 per cent to 420,000 tonnes. This increase “is the result of further expansion of the cargo network, more frequencies, and larger volumes on existing routes,” it states.
The initial translation of this content was generated by AI. All facts, context, and language have subsequently been verified and validated by a human editorial team.
Read more