Cargo Freight Business is Booming for Brussels Airlines

Brussels Airlines’ cargo business from Europe to Africa in October reported the second highest monthly volume of cargo and mail traffic in its history.

Guy Hardy, head of cargo sales, cited the performance of Brussels Airlines’ GSA partner, European Cargo Services (ECS) for generating the record 1,047,372 kilos of southbound traffic in October—a 97% load factor. Brussels Airlines previous highest monthly volume—1,083,261 kilos—was achieved in October 2008.

ECS markets bellyhold cargo capacity on Brussels Airlines’ Airbus A330-300 flights to 14 destinations across Africa; Cote D’Ivoire, Gambia, Burundi, Guinea, Senegal, Cameroon, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Angola, Kenya and Liberia. In October, the airline completed 103 flights from Brussels into the Africa market with an average load per flight of 10,169 kilos.

“Compared to other continents like Asia and North America, Africa has been less affected by the economic crisis,” says Hardy. He notes that the airline expects the final revenue outcome for 2009—“a year of damage control for the air cargo industry”—to be close to its 2008 result.

“The first half of 2010 will continue to be difficult but forecasts for the second half of the year look more promising for both trade and travel,” Hardy adds. “As soon as we see signs of a sustained recovery we will be looking to bring additional capacity into our African network by either opening new destinations or increasing frequencies on existing routes.”