Brussels Airport in Zaventem is kicking off the main holiday rush with what is set to be its busiest day of 2026. Airport spokesperson Quentin Mertens told the Belga news agency that almost 92,000 passengers are forecast to pass through the terminal on Monday, 20 July 2026 – roughly 51,000 departures and 41,000 arrivals. The previous single-day record of 98,000 travellers was established in the pre-pandemic summer of 2019, so today’s predicted total comes close to matching that milestone. Operationally, the airport reports that check-in, security and the newly expanded automated border-control lanes are running “smoothly,” with queue times averaging under 20 minutes early on Monday morning. Airport management credits additional summer staff, the staggered arrival of charter flights and coordination with the federal police for keeping flows moving. Travellers are nevertheless advised to arrive at least three hours before long-haul departures and two hours for short-haul flights as volumes build through the afternoon peak. Traffic this summer is being driven by pent-up leisure demand and capacity increases from Brussels Airlines, Ryanair and TUI fly Belgium. Over the entire July-August period, Brussels Airport expects 5.2 million passengers, a 4 % increase on 2025 and only 6 % below the record 2019 summer. Popular destinations include Spain, Greece and Turkey, while North-American frequencies have returned to near-pre-Covid levels thanks to additional United Airlines and Air Canada flights. For corporate mobility managers, the surge underscores the need to book early-morning flights or fast-track services where possible. EU Entry/Exit System (EES) kiosks, fully operational since April, are helping reduce stamping bottlenecks for non-EU nationals, but first-time users should allow extra time for biometric enrolment. Companies sending employees through Brussels are also reminded that the airport’s landside pick-up zone has a 15-minute time limit; overstays now trigger automatic €12 fines. Belgium’s Federal Mobility Ministry says lessons from today will feed into contingency planning ahead of the 21 July National Day public holiday, when a second surge is expected. If the 92,000-passenger forecast is met, Brussels Airport will demonstrate that its post-pandemic investments in e-gates and staffing are paying off – but any disruption could quickly snowball given the thin margin between smooth flow and record-breaking crowd levels.
Source: The Brussels Times
