In 2020, the cargo sector at Brussels Airport was more than ever in demand. 511,613 tonnes of air cargo were transported via Brussels Airport, up 2.2% on 2019. Full cargo and express services have not stopped to outperform 2019 since the month of April. The strongest growth was recorded in the full-freighter segment: up 43% on 2019. This steep growth is accounted for by the arrival of new carriers and the use of passenger aircraft for cargo only (30 to 40% of the full-cargo flights). Express services also saw a good increase, up 18%. Thanks to this result, Brussels Airport continues to outperform the global and European growth in air freight.

Last year, the volumes of flown and trucked air cargo totalled to 646,540 tonnes, down by a slight 3% on 2019. This is explained by the logical decrease in belly cargo as there were fewer flights (-54%), but also by the drop in trucked volumes (-19%) following the increase in air cargo transported locally from Brussels Airport. Imports originating from Asia recorded strong growth. 

In December, a month that is generally very important for the cargo industry, air cargo volumes carried decreased by 3.4% on December 2019. This decrease is explained by the exceptionally high volumes that were carried in 2019. Express services did particularly well: they record a 34% growth.