MARCH BRINGS MORE PASSENGERS ON TO BRUSSELS AIRLINES FLIGHTS
(Posted 11th April 2017)
686,299 passengers flew with Brussels Airlines during the month of March. The seat load factor of the flights amounted to an average of 74.8%. The number of passengers grew by 51.4 percent, but this spectacular growth is largely due to the fact that the flight programme of Brussels Airlines in March 2016 was scaled down in the aftermath of the Brussels attacks of March 22nd.
Of the 686,299 passengers who travelled with Brussels Airlines during the month of March, 527,905 of them flew to a European destination while 113,394 passengers flew to or from Africa, North-America, Israel or India.
It is difficult to compare the figures of March 2017 to the same month last year. On the 22nd of March 2016 Brussels Airport was hit by terror attacks, which led to a 12-day closure of the airport. The flight programme of Brussels Airlines, which was partly operated out of other airports, was significantly decreased. This had a significant influence on the traffic figures of March 2016. In comparison did the airline in March 2017 operate 25.5% more flights compared to the previous year.
The month of March closed with the launch of flights to Mumbai. Since the 30th of March, Brussels Airlines flies five times a week between Brussels Airport and the Indian metropolis and initial bookings show the new connection is off to a promising start .
The seat load factor of the flights went up 9,1 points and amounted to 74,8%. The cargo volume and the cargo load factor augmented as well.
In addition to its scheduled flight activity, Brussels Airlines operates many holiday and group flights for tour operators. Passenger figures for this activity are not included in the figures shown below.
| Month | Month | VLY difference in % | |
| March 2017 | March 2016 | ||
| Flights | 6,650 | 4,955 | 34.2 % |
| Total Passengers | 686,299 | 453,447 | 51.4 % |
| — Passengers Europe | 572,905 | 374,775 | 52.9 % |
| — Passengers Africa | 77,416 | 60,443 | 28.1 % |
| — Passengers North America | 19,368 | 8,391 | 130.8 % |
| — Passengers Middle East | 15,881 | 9,848 | 61.3 % |
| — Passengers Asia | 729 | / | / |
| Available seat-kilometers (ASK) | 1,423,890,745 | 1,054,564,363 | 35.0% |
| Revenue Passenger-Kilometers (RPK) | 1,064,760,834 | 723,120,373 | 47.2% |
| Passenger Load Factor (%) | 74.8 % | 68.6 % | 9.1 pp. |
| Available Ton-Kilometers (ATK) | 168,453 | 126,024 | 33.7 % |
| Revenue Ton-Kilometers (RTK) | 123,253 | 81,916 | 50.5 % |
| Cargo Load Factor (%) | 67.0 % | 47.8 % | 19.2 pp. |
In Eastern Africa does Brussels Airlines serve Entebbe / Uganda five times a week and also flies six times a week to Kigali / Rwanda, with one of these flights continuing to Bujumbura / Burundi.
