NEW PASSENGER RECORD FOR BRUSSELS AIRLINES
(Posted 09th August 2018)
In July Brussels Airlines welcomed 144,012 more passengers compared to the same period last year, representing a growth of 16.4%. The Seat Load Factor increased by 1.5 percentage points to a total of 86.8%.
For the first time in its 16 year history, Brussels Airlines has passed the mark of 1 million passengers in a month. In July, the airline welcomed 1.020.729 passengers, an increase of 16.4% compared to July 2017.
The strongest passenger growth was registered on the African network (+34.1%), thanks to the addition of many new holiday destinations in North Africa in cooperation with Thomas Cook, Neckermann and Pegase. The number of passengers travelling on European flights rose by 14.9%. Compared to the same month last year, 6.5% more customers were registered on the North American network. On the Middle Eastern flights, 10.8% more customers chose to fly Brussels Airlines. The number of people traveling with Brussels Airlines to Asia increased by 7.4%.
Brussels Airlines operated 4.2% more flights, but the Available Seat-Kilometers (ASK) increased even more (+20.8%) due to the replacement of AVRO jets (100 seats) by bigger Airbus aircraft (180 seats). The Seat Load Factor climbed from 85.3% in July last year to 86.8% in July 2018 (+1.5pp.). 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 yield remains very high.
The Cargo Load Factor decreased slightly by 3.1 percentage points to an average of 61.1%, due to the fast growing flight offer. The transported cargo volume amounted to 3,872 tons. The Revenue Ton-Kilometers (RTK) grew by 21.2%.
These statistics do not include the passengers on board of the many charter flights Brussels Airlines operates on behalf of tour operators.
| July 2018 | July 2017 | Difference in % | |
| Flights | 7,588 | 7,279 | 4.2% |
| Total Passengers | 1,020,729 | 876,717 | 16.4% |
| — Passengers Europe | 824,182 | 717,208 | 14.9% |
| — Passengers Africa | 124,893 | 93,121 | 34.1% |
| — Passengers North America | 39,114 | 36,728 | 6.5% |
| — Passengers Middle East | 22,345 | 20,169 | 10.8% |
| — Passengers Asia | 10,195 | 9,491 | 7.4% |
| Available seat-kilometers (ASK) | 2,160,374,027 | 1,789,119,451 | 20.8% |
| Revenue Passenger-Kilometers (RPK) | 1,875,338,377 | 1,526,492,773 | 22.9% |
| Passenger Load Factor (%) | 86.81% | 85.32% | 1.49pp |
| Available Ton-Kilometers (ATK) | 251,610 | 213,781 | 17.7% |
| Revenue Ton-Kilometers (RTK) | 208,242 | 171,813 | 21.2% |
| Cargo Load Factor (%) | 61.08% | 64.20% | – 3.12pp |
These results are based on figures currently available
Brussels Airlines flies daily between the European capital and Entebbe / Uganda with one weekly flight routing via Bujumbura / Burundi while the remaining 6 flights route via Kigali / Rwanda.
