Ethiopian’s exit from Brussels could sting

Although freight volume at Brussels Airport (BRU) was up by 7.3 percent in October, compared to the same month last year, and the full-freighter segment was strong with 27.1 percent growth, year-over-year, the exit of Ethiopian Airways is expected to have a negative effect on growth in the coming months.

Ethiopian moved its cargo operations from BRU to Masstricht-Aachen (MST) in the Netherlands Nov. 1, because of the Belgian governments’ delay to respond to the carrier’s request for an extension of fifth-freedom traffic rights. Ethiopian wanted to have the ability to fly onward to Dubai World Central, Hong-Kong Chek Lap Kok and Shanghai Pudong.

However, airfreight movement has declined throughout Europe and BRU was no exception. Integrator services grew by 5.9 percent in October, year-over-year, but belly cargo fell by 6.6 percent, year-over-year in the same period. However for the first 10 months of 2015, belly cargo remained static compared to the same period in 2014, although full freighter cargo up 23.9 percent. Ethiopian will serve Masstricht-Aachen six times per week with 777Fs carrying mostly flowers for the European market.