In August 2025, the second month of the summer holiday, Brussels Airport in Zaventem, Belgium welcomed 2.5 million passengers, an increase of 3% compared to August 2024. Because of the end of the school holidays, the number of arriving passengers was very high, the airport manager says in a press release.
The busy summer period went well at Brussels Airport thanks to the great collaboration between all partners. Freight volumes grew by almost 3% to a total of 58,000 tonnes.
During the summer holidays, Brussels Airport welcomed a total of 5 million passengers. That is 3% more than during last year’s summer holidays. With a strong network of 180 destinations, including new destinations such as Atlanta, Georgia in the United States and Hong Kong in China in addition to the classic sun destinations, there was something in the offer for everyone.
“It was a busy summer at Brussels Airport with 5 million passengers. Thanks to good preparation and collaboration with our partners, the summer went very well. With additional check-in options, by doubling the self-bag drop capacity and using mobile check-in desks, and the deployment of extra staff by all partners, holidaymakers were able to enjoy a smooth service at the airport. In addition, the work on runway 25L/7R was completed on time and without any impact on our passengers”, Arnaud Feist, CEO of Brussels Airport Company, says.
Passenger numbers: +3% compared to 2024
In August, Brussels Airport welcomed 2,488,804 passengers, an increase of 3% compared with the same month in 2024. The number of arriving passengers is 200,000 more than the number of departing passengers due to the end of the school holidays.
Transfer passengers accounted for 15% of the total, a lower share than last year due to the strong growth of the number of local passengers.
The 10 most important countries in the past month were, in order: Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Morocco, Portugal, Germany, France, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Total cargo volumes: +3% compared to 2024
Total cargo volumes through Brussels Airport reached 57,994 tonnes in August, marking a 3% year-on-year increase. The volume of flown cargo increased by 13% to 53,606 tonnes.
The full-freighter segment dropped by 5%, while belly cargo remained stable compared with last year. Meanwhile, integrator services recorded a sharp rise of 38%, while trucked cargo volumes dropped with 51,5%.
The main import regions were Asia, Africa, and North America. We also see the same top three in the main export regions: Asia, followed by Africa and North America.
Flight movements: +2% compared to August 2024
The number of flight movements in August rose by 2% compared to the same period last year. The number of passenger flights increased by 2%, while there were 1% less cargo flights.
There were 152 passengers per flight on average, which is one more than in August 2024.
Some tourism statistics
- BELGIUM | Flemish museums attracted more than 4.8 million visitors in 2023.
- Belgium sees modest tourism growth in 2024, led by Flanders and Brussels.
- Travel in 2024: Spain, France, USA, China, Mexico lose ground and Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, UAE to grow market share.
- France, Spain, USA, China and Italy most visited countries in the world, Belgium 41st.
- France welcomed 100 million international visitors in 2024.
- Turkey welcomed 62 million international tourists who together spent $61 billion in 2024.
- SPAIN | 94 million international visitors and €108.7 billion tourism income in 2024.
- UN WORLD TOURISM BAROMETER | International tourism recovers pre-pandemic levels in 2024.
- Outside the EU, Europeans mostly travel to Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
- Intra-European travel mostly for fun and / or family.
- Europeans visit other European countries over 7 nights on average.
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24.4 million passengers travelled through Brussels Airport in Zaventem in 2025, an increase of 3.3% compared to 2024, the press release says.
Immediately followed with: “Due to the seven national union actions, this growth was lower than expected, with a negative impact of 275,000 fewer travellers.”
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