In 2023, Belgian airports recorded an increase in the number of passengers and flights, reflecting a recovery from the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these better figures, the sector is still not at the levels registered in 2019.

As for freight and mail transport, the downward trends that started in 2022 after the successful year 2021 continue in 2023.

Almost 32.4 million passengers passed through Belgian airports in 2023, an increase of just over 15% compared to the previous year. However, this figure is still lower than the 35.5 million passengers transported in 2019.

The total number of flights (passenger and cargo) increased again in 2023, with almost 274,000 flights recorded, a slight increase of 5% compared to 2022, but a decrease compared to the 325,000 flights recorded in 2019.

Just over 1.6 million tonnes of goods were transported in 2023, a decrease of almost 11% compared to 2022. However, these figures are still slightly higher than in 2019.

In terms of freight and mail transport, Liège-Bierset airport accounted for 62% of total activity in this sector, while Zaventem airport accounted for 36%.

Belgium remains a major hub for intra-EU freight and mail transport

In 2023, more than 1.4 billion passengers were transported in the European Union^[1], almost 211 million more than in 2022. With almost 32.4 million passengers transported, Belgium ranks 13^th.

There were more than 10.4 million commercial passenger flights from all EU airports and more than 232,000 from Belgian airports in 2023.

Despite the continuing decline in freight and mail transport via airports, Belgium remains a major player in the European landscape in 2023, second only to Germany and France in terms of tonnes of freight transported.

Eurostat

Eurostat

Eurostat

^[1]Provisional figures for the EU-27: number of passengers transported, number of flights, weight in tonnes of mail and freight on board: arrivals and departures