Brussels Airport has confirmed that 2,395 scheduled passenger flights were scrapped this year because of seven separate nationwide strike days, according to figures released on 26 December. More than 330,000 travellers – many of them business passengers connecting through Belgium’s main hub – missed flights, while airlines were forced to re-route crews and aircraft.
The repeated shutdowns have inflicted an estimated economic loss of €175 million, a figure that covers direct airport revenue, downstream spending by travellers, and knock-on effects for logistics operators based in and around the Brucargo zone. The airport authority says each strike day drains roughly €25 million from the Belgian economy and undermines the country’s reputation for reliability at the heart of Europe’s transport network.
![Brussels Airport strikes cancelled almost 2,400 flights in 2025, costing business €175 million]()
Corporate travel managers are now reassessing Brussels as a preferred hub for regional meetings and same-day connections. Several multinationals with Benelux headquarters have told local chambers of commerce that they are building «strike-day playbooks» that include switching traffic to Amsterdam Schiphol, Paris-CDG or Düsseldorf at short notice, chartering buses for intra-Benelux moves and holding more meetings virtually.
Insurers also report a sharp uptick in enquiries about strike-cover add-ons for annual business-traveller policies covering Belgium. Meanwhile, politicians have seized on the figures to push competing narratives: Open VLD MP Kjell Vander Elst called the disruption “disastrous for investor confidence”, while union leaders insist the walk-outs were the only way to force talks on wage indexation and working-time rules.
Looking ahead, the federal budget foresees doubling the Belgian air-departure tax from €5 to €10 per passenger by 2027. Airlines warn that passengers will ultimately pay more for an airport experience that is growing less predictable – a combination that could accelerate the shift of high-yield traffic away from Brussels unless industrial relations improve.
The repeated shutdowns have inflicted an estimated economic loss of €175 million, a figure that covers direct airport revenue, downstream spending by travellers, and knock-on effects for logistics operators based in and around the Brucargo zone. The airport authority says each strike day drains roughly €25 million from the Belgian economy and undermines the country’s reputation for reliability at the heart of Europe’s transport network.
Corporate travel managers are now reassessing Brussels as a preferred hub for regional meetings and same-day connections. Several multinationals with Benelux headquarters have told local chambers of commerce that they are building «strike-day playbooks» that include switching traffic to Amsterdam Schiphol, Paris-CDG or Düsseldorf at short notice, chartering buses for intra-Benelux moves and holding more meetings virtually.
Insurers also report a sharp uptick in enquiries about strike-cover add-ons for annual business-traveller policies covering Belgium. Meanwhile, politicians have seized on the figures to push competing narratives: Open VLD MP Kjell Vander Elst called the disruption “disastrous for investor confidence”, while union leaders insist the walk-outs were the only way to force talks on wage indexation and working-time rules.
Looking ahead, the federal budget foresees doubling the Belgian air-departure tax from €5 to €10 per passenger by 2027. Airlines warn that passengers will ultimately pay more for an airport experience that is growing less predictable – a combination that could accelerate the shift of high-yield traffic away from Brussels unless industrial relations improve.
Source: The Brussels Times / Belga
