Brussels Airport expects a record number of passengers for the winter holidays with more than a million travelers.
“More and more Belgians are taking the plane to leave during these Christmas holidays“, says TUI, the country’s leading tour operator. And in fact, Brussels Airport expects more than a million passengers to pass through during the winter holidays (Christmas), which would constitute an absolute record, announces he said on Wednesday. Charleroi airport expects an influx of more than 450,000 passengers during the same period.
The previous record at Brussels Airport for this period dates back to the 2019 Christmas holidays, during which the airport welcomed 988,000 passengers, no less! This Friday, December 20, which marks the start of the holidays, should be the busiest day with 72,000 passengers expected, including 40,000 departing.
There were already many travelers in the early hours of the morning. If some are looking for sun at all costs, others are going to brave the cold of the North of the United States: “We are going to Chicago to join family and spend the holidays. It was the opportunity to go there, it will be nice to go there. They have a harsher winter than ours so we took some snow gear, we’ll see once we get there.“, Sophie tells us.
Last year, 850,000 passengers passed through the national airport for the winter holidays. In Charleroi, the airport expects an average of 27,500 passengers per day, an increase of 8% compared to last year, the airport said.
This upward trend is observed by the country’s tour operators. “TUI records 5% growth in bookings compared to last year for the Christmas holidays. Contrary to the idea that Belgians prefer to spend the holidays with family at home, the reservation figures show a clear trend: this year, many Belgians will spend not one, but both end-of-year holidays at home. stranger“, explains Sarah Saucin from TUI Belgium. “If the average budget allocated to Christmas holidays remains the same as last year (€1,940 per person for a holiday package), Belgians want to get more for their money. Enjoying the sun as long as possible while choosing an affordable destination is the exercise of many families at the end of the year“.
The most popular destinations
Spain remains the favorite destination for Belgians. “The most significant growth is found in Egypt: the seaside resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh and the cultural city of Luxor double their number of visitors compared to last year“, also underlines TUI.
Tunisia is the third most popular vacation country, “with an average budget of less than €1000 per person, destinations like Djerba, Hammamet and Sousse are by far the most advantageous options for this end of year“. Senegal also shows good growth of 24% compared to Christmas 2023.
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