Brussels Airport books second highest growth in Europe in 2014

Brussels Airport last year saw passenger numbers increase by 14.6% compared to 2013, to more than 21.75 million, according to figures released on Wednesday by the European statistics agency Eurostat. Only Athens Airport recorded higher growth last year, with a 21.8% increase in passenger numbers.

In terms of passenger numbers at Europe's major airports, London's Heathrow Airport last year ranked the highest with 73.37 million passengers (+1.4%), followed by Paris Charles de Gaulle (63.65 million, +2.8%) and Frankfurt Main (59.41 million, +2.7%).

Belgian airports altogether last year saw an increase in the number of passengers, up 9% from 2013, in line with the European trend which shows a 4.4% increase in the number of air passengers in 2014, to nearly 880 million.

The number of air passengers in the EU has increased steadily every year for the past five years.