Liege Airport reported a total cargo throughput of 1,162,899 tonnes in 2024, an increase of 16 percent compared with 1,005,676 tons in 2023.
This is the airport’s 2nd best performance in its entire history. In 2021, the airport handled 1,412,498 tonnes of cargo which remains to be its best performance yet. For the last 5 years, the airport has exceeded one million tons handled.
In terms of movements, the trend was also upward, with 37,029 aircraft movements recorded for 2024 compared with 33,652 movements in 2023. “The vast majority of these movements concern cargo aircraft, with 27,184 movements recorded in 2024 an increase of 14 percent compared with 23,916 movements in 2023,” reads the release.
December confirmed the upward trend in volumes, with 103,217 tonnes passing through the airport, an increase of 18 percent compared with 87,534 tonnes in December 2023. Cargo aircraft movements also increased in December 2024, with 2,380 movements, up 14 percent from the 2,085 movements in December 2023.
Beyond these good figures, structural elements consolidate Liege Airport’s position among the world’s largest and most efficient full cargo airports, as CEO Laurent Jossart explains: “Over the past few years, we have succeeded in increasing both the number of cargo airlines operating with us (from 40 at the end of 2023 to 48 at the end of 2024), and the number of logistics providers on site (from 37 at the end of 2023 to 57 at the end of 2024), demonstrating the attractiveness of our airport and the quality of the services and logistics solutions provided by the entire LGG cargo community. By diversifying our partnerships, we are less dependent on 2 or 3 dominant customers. For example, in 2014, the top 5 airlines accounted for 90% of cargo volumes, whereas in 2024, this top 5 will represent 58% of tonnage. And the top 3, which carried 79% of air freight in 2014, now account for 43% of the total. In 2014, our biggest customer accounted for 56% of air freight volumes, compared with just 18% in 2024 (see graph below). The airport has become more resilient, making it stronger to face competition and changing economic conditions over the coming years.”
Liege Airport obtained its new operating permit from the Walloon Government in April 2024, enabling it to develop an ambitious, self-financed Master Plan with, over the next 15 years, an investment of 500 million euros to handle more than 2 million tons of cargo and more than double the number of jobs created (from 12,000 today within 150 companies to 25,000 projected in 2040). “Our ambition is to climb onto the podium of Europe’s three biggest cargo airports and consolidate our role as a major economic driver in the Walloon Region.”
In November 2024, the application process for the single permit to extend the airport’s infrastructure (selection of the engineering firm for the environmental impact study and soil orientation study) began with the public information meeting (RIP). This is the first major step in the implementation of the Master Plan.
In 2024, Liege Airport began implementing its strategy as a provider of multimodal logistics solutions, notably by acquiring a stake in LLI (Novandi Group), manager of the rail freight hub adjacent to the airport.
In mid-2024, Liege Airport inaugurated its new 6,000 M2 office building, “L’Escale”, further developing its real estate strategy.
The Liege Airport Academy is also continuing its development to train the talent the airport needs. In close collaboration with Forem, Wallonia Skills of the Future and Wan, Liege Airport Academy has organized a training course for aircraft maintenance technicians, which will continue until spring 2025.
In 2024, Liege Airport’s Board of Directors adopted an ambitious roadmap defining objectives, indicators and trajectories for the six pillars of the environmental strategy (reduction of CO² emissions, noise and quality of life for local residents, maintenance of biodiversity, improvement of air quality, soil/water quality, mobility of workers and heavy goods vehicles).
In terms of Co2, the aim is to reduce emissions by 75% in 2030, 85% in 2040 and to reach net zero carbon in 2050 (scope 1 & 2).
