Brussels Airport continued its strong growth in March as cargo tonnage grew 15.3 per cent on March 2015 fuelled by freighter services.

The Belgian gateway is comparing its monthly figures to March 2015, which was a record month – as in March 2016 the airport was closed for a period after a terrorist attack.

Brussels handled 50,474 tonnes in March this year, up on the 43,785 tonnes in March 2015 and on the 34,626 tonnes in March 2016.

The full-freighter segment grew 27.2 per cent on March 2015 at 16,941 tonnes and the express services sector surged 19.8 per cent on March 2015 to 20,872 tonnes.

However, the one blot was the performance of the bellyhold sector, which fell 2.9 per cent to 12,661 tonnes, the airport says this is largely due to the departure of Jet Airways services.

In the first quarter (Q1) of 2017, Brussels had its strongest ever Q1, handling 136,122 tonnes of freight, up 24.5 per cent on the 109,361 tonnes in Q1 2016 and up 13.3 per cent on the 120,117 tonnes in Q1 2015.