Belgocontrol secured more than one million flight movements in 2017

1,073,870: this is the total number of movements that was secured by Belgocontrol air traffic controllers in the Belgian airspace and at Belgian airports in 2017. This is an increase of more than 3% compared to last year. For the Belgian airports alone, more than 33 million passengers and nearly 1.3 million tonnes of cargo were safely transported last year, which is an all-time high. In terms of incidents, Belgocontrol records outstanding results again.

In 2017 the largest growth in the number of movements was recorded in Belgocontrol CANAC 2 control centre (+ 4.6%) as well as in the control towers of Brussels Airport (+ 6.4%) and Charleroi (+ 1.5%). However, traffic volume declined in Antwerp, Liege and Ostend airports. This is mainly the result of the increase of the number of movements at this regional airports in 2016 due the terrorist attacks in Brussels.

Considering the level of complexity of the Belgian airspace and the traffic density, Belgocontrol’s safety performance is excellent: in 2017, there were three incidents of category B (‘major’) for which Belgocontrol is responsible; a category A (‘serious’) incident is under investigation.

Very high safety standard

As in previous years, the A and B incident rate remains very limited, it only amounts to 0.0004% of all controlled movements. This is the second best result ever recorded, behind the record year 2016 (0 A and B incident).

To ensure the highest possible level of safety, Belgocontrol strongly relies on an open and pervasive reporting culture. Each event is reported and examined thoroughly to see which lessons can be learned from it and to prevent a similar situation from happening again in the future.

Johan Decuyper, Belgocontrol CEO: « Safety is in our DNA; safe air traffic flows for passengers, crew and residents are and remain our priority. Our air traffic controllers contribute to it day after day. By also ensuring the capacity and fluidity of operations in the airspace as well as on the ground, Belgocontrol participates in the growth of airports and the aviation sector in particular, as well as of the Belgian economy in general. »