BRUSSELS AIRLINES CARRIES 5.3 PERCENT MORE PASSENGERS IN MAY DESPITE TWO STRIKE DAYS
(Posted 13th June 2018)
Two strike action days notwithstanding has Belgium’s Brussels Airlines again shown an uninterrupted growth trend with overall 5.3 percent more passengers uplifted in May this year.
Compared to the same month last year, Brussels Airlines performed 7.3% less flights in May. The decrease in flights was caused by the social actions of the airline’s pilots on May 14th and May 16th, prompting the cancellation of 557 flights. However, the number of passengers traveling on a Brussels Airlines flight rose by 5.3% compared to May 2017.
On the European network the airline registered a passenger growth of 4.8%, while the number of passengers travelling on North American flights rose by 1.3%. Compared to the same month last year, 2.7% more customers have chosen Brussels Airlines for flights to and from the Middle East. The strongest increase was noted on the African network, where 14.1% more guests boarded a Brussels Airlines flight. The number of people traveling with Brussels Airlines to Asia decreased by 13.2%, due to a lower flight offer. In May 2018 the airline operated 40 flights to Mumbai, compared to 44 flights in May 2017.
Despite the decrease in operated flights, the Available Seat-Kilometers (ASK) increased by 3.9%, due to the replacement of the last AVRO jets (100 seats) by bigger Airbus aircraft (180 seats). The Passenger Load Factor climbed up from 76.5% in May last year to 80.3% in May 2018. Thanks to its increased offer, Brussels Airlines was able to continue offering competitive fares and attract even more customers. This means, however, that the pressure on the ticket prices remains very high.
The Cargo Load Factor increased by 4.3 percentage points to an average of 69.7%, while the Revenue Ton-Kilometers (RTK) grew by 11.0%. The transported cargo volume amounted to 4,446 tons.
The following statistics do not include the passengers on board of the many charter flights Brussels Airlines operates on behalf of tour operators.
| May 2018 | May 2017 | difference in % | |
| Flights | 7,142 | 7,701 | -7.3% |
| Total Passengers | 883,784 | 839,320 | 5.3% |
| — Passengers Europe | 733,234 | 699,654 | 4.8% |
| — Passengers Africa | 90,712 | 79,528 | 14.1% |
| — Passengers North America | 33,480 | 33,049 | 1.3% |
| — Passengers Middle East | 18,392 | 17,908 | 2.7% |
| — Passengers Asia | 7,966 | 9,181 | -13.2% |
| Available seat-kilometers (ASK) | 1,883,465,284 | 1,812,135,939 | 3.9% |
| Revenue Passenger-Kilometers (RPK) | 1,512,917,751 | 1,386,237,524 | 9.1% |
| Passenger Load Factor (%) | 80.3% | 76.5% | 3.8 %pt |
| Available Ton-Kilometers (ATK) | 219,776 | 216,130 | 1.7% |
| Revenue Ton-Kilometers (RTK) | 174,203 | 162,034 | 7.5% |
| Cargo Load Factor (%) | 69.7% | 65.4% | 4.3 %pt |
These results are based on figures currently available
Brussels Airlines flies presently 6 times a week to Entebbe / Uganda – the
