Air Cargo Belgium, representing the cargo community at Brussels Airport, officially launched

Air Cargo Belgium VZW has been officially launched at Brussels Airport. The non-profit organisation brings together all the stakeholders and companies of Brussels Airport’s freight division, Brucargo. Air Cargo Belgium will be the official representative of the cargo community at Brussels Airport, and will bring the various companies and other stakeholders together for joint projects. Air Cargo Belgium is funded by the major companies at the airport and will also receive project funding for three years from the Flemish Government as an innovative business network.

Air Cargo Belgium was set up at Brussels Airport by the cargo community. The non-profit organisation will be the official representative of Brucargo, the freight division at Brussels Airport, and will bring the various companies at Brucargo together for projects with a view to forming an integrated logistics chain. Air Cargo Belgium will support the companies in this, assure the general coordination of the joint projects and help to realise these.

“The establishment of Air Cargo Belgium is an important step for the entire cargo community at Brussels Airport. This community now consists of almost 5,000 people with wide-ranging jobs at the airport. A further 10,000 people are employed indirectly, thanks to Brucargo’s activities. Air freight is only expected to increase in the coming years.

Consequently, it is important that we get ourselves well organised now so that we can seize these growth opportunities and maintain the position of Brussels Airport as a preferred European airport thanks to its smooth processes, innovation and logistical and organisational collaboration across companies”, says Arnaud Feist, CEO of Brussels Airport Company.

With a predicted annual growth of 4.2%* in the coming 20 years, air cargo will grow faster than the global economy (+3.3%*). This makes air cargo an essential engine of the world economy with a high added value for the country as the goods carried are mainly high-value goods that often require labour-intensive logistics. The goods that are carried by air are mainly time-critical and temperature-sensitive goods, such as pharmaceuticals and perishables. While this concerns a mere 0.5% of all goods, it represents 35% of the value of all the goods transported worldwide.

With the establishment of Air Cargo Belgium, the existing cooperation between the companies at Brucargo across the entire logistics chain is formalised, with the purpose of keeping Brussels Airport competitive and of capturing the expected market growth.

The Flemish Government has granted Air Cargo Belgium an annual subsidy over the coming three years of up to 150,000 euros in the context of innovative business networks from the Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship Agency. Besides the subsidy, Air Cargo Belgium will also be funded by the major companies and other stakeholders within the air cargo community. After the 3-year project subsidy, the non-profit organisation will continue operating without subsidies.

*Source: OECD, Boeing

Brussels Airport, 8 September 2016