Exterior of Brussels Airport after the bombing. Credit: @News_Executive
FLIGHT bookings to the Belgian capital took a nosedive in the aftermath of the March 22 terror attacks, according to data by travel analysts ForwardKeys.
Net booking numbers, which excludes cancellations, plummeted 136 per cent in the days after the attack compared to the same period last year. The group travel segment was the worst hit at minus 214 per cent followed by the leisure segment with new bookings down 150 per cent.
Olivier Jager, ForwardKeys co-founder and CEO, said: “Our analysis confirms what many must have suspected, that once again terrorism is having a fundamental impact on international travel.
“The immediate effect of the Brussels bombings has been greater than the aftermath of the attacks on Paris in November last year when net bookings fell by 101 per cent. This can be explained by the fact that the Brussels attacks led to the full closure of the city’s airport.”
New bookings remain low and while cancellations have returned to normal levels after an initial surge, it remains to be seen if the improvement can be sustained, added Jager.
Looking at the near-future period between April 14 to August 31, the biggest dip in flight bookings come from within Europe with a 29 per cent decrease compared to 2015. Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific bookings to Brussels are down 20 per cent and in the Americas, 17 per cent.
Interestingly, bookings from China and Israel are up 38 per cent and 23 per cent respectively for the same period.
ForwardKeys also added that last-minute bookings may still boost overall arrival numbers in Brussels in the coming months.
