Brussels Airlines welcomed 5.3% more passengers in May, compared to the same period last year. The growth was projected to be higher, but two days of social actions forced the airline to cancel 557 flights. Nevertheless, compared to the same month last year, the number of passengers traveling with Brussels Airlines rose from 839,320 to 883,784.
Despite the decrease in operated flights, the Available Seat-Kilometers (ASK) increased by 3.9%, due to the replacement of the last AVRO jets (100 seats) by bigger Airbus aircraft (180 seats). The Passenger Load Factor climbed up from 76.5% in May last year to 80.3% in May 2018. Thanks to its increased offer, Brussels Airlines was able to continue offering competitive fares and attract even more customers. This means, however, that the pressure on the ticket prices remains very high.
The Cargo Load Factor increased by 4.3 percentage points to an average of 69.7%, while the Revenue Ton-Kilometers (RTK) grew by 11.0%. The transported cargo volume amounted to 4,446 tons.
These statistics do not include the passengers on board of the many charter flights Brussels Airlines operates on behalf of tour operators.
| May 2018 | May 2017 | difference in % | |
| Flights | 7,142 | 7,701 | -7.3% |
| Total Passengers | 883,784 | 839,320 | 5.3% |
| — Passengers Europe | 733,234 | 699,654 | 4.8% |
| — Passengers Africa | 90,712 | 79,528 | 14.1% |
| — Passengers North America | 33,480 | 33,049 | 1.3% |
| — Passengers Middle East | 18,392 | 17,908 | 2.7% |
| — Passengers Asia | 7,966 | 9,181 | -13.2% |
| Available seat-kilometers (ASK) | 1,883,465,284 | 1,812,135,939 | 3.9% |
| Revenue Passenger-Kilometers (RPK) | 1,512,917,751 | 1,386,237,524 | 9.1% |
| Passenger Load Factor (%) | 80.3% | 76.5% | 3.8 %pt |
| Available Ton-Kilometers (ATK) | 219,776 | 216,130 | 1.7% |
| Revenue Ton-Kilometers (RTK) | 174,203 | 162,034 | 7.5% |
| Cargo Load Factor (%) | 69.7% | 65.4% | 4.3 %pt |
These results are based on figures currently available
