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Pfizer vaccine exports keep Brussels Airport busy

Belgium airport sees strong cargo growth in January

A loading dock with a pallet of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines at Brussels Airport. (Photo: Brussels Airport Co.)

Brussels Airport’s role as export hub for the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine contributed to a 21% increase in cargo volume in January. 

Since the end of November, airlines operating from Brussels Airport have flown to more than 40 destinations with shipments of the Pfizer vaccine, the Brussels Airport Co. said earlier this month. Many vaccines are being carried by DHL Express and its partners. Large amounts are moving on commercial passenger or passenger-freighter flights operated by Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways, Emirates, El Al, Virgin Atlantic and United Airlines. 

There are almost daily flights within the DHL Express network carrying smaller shipments of the COVID-19 vaccine. Last week, DHL and partner All Nippon Airways announced they have begun delivering Pfizer vaccines to Tokyo.

Brussels Airport was one of the first airports to make preparations for distribution of COVID vaccines and their unique cold temperature requirements. It coordinated all stakeholders in the area to streamline the process and align resources, an effort that benefited from a cargo community organization developed years earlier.


In January, Brussels posted a 21% gain in air cargo volume even as passenger traffic plummeted 84% compared to the first month of 2020. 

Many European and other airports  have experienced a downturn in cargo business since the pandemic, but Brussels has ridden a wave of growth from all-cargo and express delivery carriers, as well as cargo-only flights operated by passenger airlines.

In January, the amount of cargo carried by full freighters at Brussels Airport increased 73% year-over-year, while tonnage for express carriers grew 37%, more than making up for the lost volume carried by passenger jets. And airport-to-airport truck volumes increased 10% after several months of contraction. The total volume of goods handled at Brussels Airport grew 18% in January to 58,311 metric tons. 

The airport said imports from Asia and North America, and exports to Asia, were strong and that it saw a positive effect on throughput from Brexit. 


Last year, Brussels Airport reported 2.2% growth in cargo as passenger traffic plunged 74%. 

The airport is operated by Brussels Airport Co., in which the government of Belgium has a 25% stake. 

Click here for more FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

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Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Supply Chain and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He won Environmental Journalist of the Year from the Seahorse Freight Association in 2014 and was the group's 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. In December 2022, Eric was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist by the Seahorse Freight Association. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. He has appeared on Marketplace, ABC News and National Public Radio to talk about logistics issues in the news. Eric is based in Vancouver, Washington. He can be reached for comments and tips at ekulisch@freightwaves.com