Liege and Brussels airports saw their cargo volumes travel in opposite directions in June as the former reported a double-digit percentage increase and the latter a decline.
Brussels saw its total flown cargo tonnes decline by 11.6% year on year in June to 44,310 tons.
Over the first six months of the year there was a 0.1% decline in cargo volumes to 297,196 tons.
The largest fall in June came from its full-freighter flights, which were down 30.3% year on year to 12,175 tons.
Integrator volumes for the month were down 14.9% to 18,976 tons and belly cargo was up 27.1% to 13,158 tons.
Explaining the performance, an airport spokesperson said: “Air Belgium had lower activity this year in June compared to last year, which has an impact on the results. We expect an increase in the upcoming months.
“This month there was a decline due to the fact that last year Turkish had many movements after the earthquake with aid materials. We also saw a temporary shift of the Ethiopian operations.”
In contrast, Liege Airport saw its cargo volumes increase by 21% year on year in June to 95,514 tonnes and there was a 15% increase over the first six months to 566,117 tonnes.
The airport has welcomed several new airlines over the past year while air cargo demand in general has soared.
Liege Airport chief executive Laurent Jossart said: “Our portfolio of airlines (over 40) and logistics providers (over 50) is growing, with the arrival of Hong Kong Air Cargo, My Freighter Airlines, Beijing Capital Airlines, Ninatrans, Fracht Group, etc., enabling us to diversify our markets. The outlook for the rest of the year is equally positive.”
Liege pointed out that its volume growth is also ahead of the overall market increase of around 13% in June, according to data provider Xeneta.
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