Of the figure, 750 million were exports, 250 million were imports and millions more were transfers, travelling to Europe and beyond.
Every day, vaccine flights take off to several countries, with Japan and the US being the two main destinations.
Covid pills have also started being shipped through Brussels Airport, which are even more sensitive to temperature variations.
With its state-of-the-art pharma infrastructure, Brussels says it is the ideal partner to handle this cargo.
Pharma has been one of Brussels’ specialities for several years and the airport has more than 35,000 square metres of temperature-controlled warehouses in its cargo area.
It also developed Airside Pharma Transporters, mobile refrigerators to transport cargo between warehouses and the aircraft.
Brussels Airport says it owes the expertise to its cargo partners in the BRUCure Taskforce, many of whom are IATA CEIV Pharma certified, and to the collaboration of Air Cargo Belgium.
Proudly announcing the milestone, Arnaud Feist, CEO of Brussels Airport says: “Our infrastructure and equipment for handling vaccines and other pharmaceuticals meet the highest standards of the pharmaceutical sector. Quality and safety are our priorities and every day we work together with our partners to ensure the numerous shipments of vaccines and pills to more than 60 countries.”
Almost 10% of the total cargo handled at Brussels Airport consists of pharmaceuticals.