Brussels Airport is expecting 5.2 million passengers this summer holiday
Arriving at the airport in good time and well prepared for security screening remain key for a smooth departure.
5.2 million passengers will travel via Brussels Airport in July and August, 4% more than last year. The summer holiday is traditionally the peak season at the airport, with the holiday rush starting as early as Friday, 26 June. With 180 direct destinations, including new intercontinental routes such as São Paulo, Kilimanjaro, and Halifax, passengers have plenty of choice. Brussels Airport and its partners are providing extra capacity and additional staff to cope with the summer rush. Passengers can also easily find answers to all their travel questions via the Brussels Airport App and chatbot BRUce, allowing them to start their holiday without a care.
The school holidays in Dutch-speaking education officially start on Wednesday, 1 July; in French-speaking education, they start on Monday, 6 July. In the months of July and August, Brussels Airport is expecting a total of around 5.2 million passengers, an increase of 4% compared with last summer. The holiday getaway starts as early as Friday, 26 June, when 82,000 passengers are expected. The busiest day of the summer holiday will be 20 July, with more than 90,000 travellers.
The classic sunny destinations remain very popular: Spain, Turkey, Greece, Italy, and Morocco top the list, followed by Portugal, Tunisia, Egypt, and Croatia. Those who prefer faraway destinations can fly direct from Brussels Airport to, among others, São Paulo (Brazil), Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), and Halifax (Canada). The offer to China and Hong Kong has also been further expanded, with six direct destinations.
The unstable geopolitical context currently has no impact on scheduled flights. There are also no concerns about the supply of kerosene presently for the entire summer season.
Brussels Airport and its partners are prepared for the summer rush
Brussels Airport and its partners are doing everything they can to give passengers a carefree journey. Extra staff are being deployed in the terminal to guide passengers around the airport and answer their questions. For check-in, additional capacity is being provided with pop-up check-in desks and a new Self Bag Drop zone for passengers of airlines SAS, Finnair, KLM, and Transavia, next to the existing zone for Lufthansa Group and Brussels Airlines.
Work is also being carried out together with the competent federal authorities, Home Affairs, Asylum and Migration, and the Federal Police to limit waiting times at border control at the airport. The introduction of the European Entry/Exit System is causing longer waiting times for non-European passengers at many European airports.
The Minister of the Interior and the Federal Police have foreseen increased staffing at border control this summer. The airport has created two additional positions for border control officers at departures and almost 60 pre-registration kiosks have already been installed for registering non-European passengers in the EES.
These are currently being tested so that passengers from certain third countries will soon be able to use these kiosks and the e-gates for border control, instead of the staffed border posts. All this should reduce waiting times for passengers.