Brussels Airport Company gives new ground treatment licenses
At Brussels Airport, ground handling is provided by external service providers responsible for major services such as handling luggage and food transfer. Since licenses in five categories of ground treatment are scheduled to end at the end of October 2025, Brussels Airport launched a selection process in early 2024 to grant new licenses.
After this procedure, Brussels Airport Company has given new licenses to all restricted groups. These new licenses will be valid for seven years. In addition to the usual selection criteria, sustainability has played an important role, with specific requirements on electricity. This initiative is part of the Brussels Airport’s broader goal to break all ground operations – a goal supported by a grant from the European Commission as part of the Breeze program.
With the expiration of the current licenses in five categories of Earth processing in October 2025, Brussels Airport began the selection in mid -February 2024 to appoint service providers in five categories, where only a limited number of operators allows.
A preliminary license was already granted in December to Gate Gourmet Belgium NV in the category “Food Transfer”. Due to the lack of any last candidate the minimum requirements, at least two processors must be licensed in this category, a new selection process is currently underway to grant the second license.
On March 27, Brussels Airport Company made decisions regarding the other four categories. The following service providers have been chosen and they will receive valid licenses from late October 2025 to October 2032:
- Luggage treatment: Aviapartner Belgium NV and Alyzia SAS
- Avartner Belgium NV and Alyzia SAS
- Full aircraft processing: Aviapartner Cargo NV, DNATA NV and Menzies Aviation Limited
- Shipping and Posting: Aviapartner Cargo NV, Alyzia SAS and DNATA NV
- Transport Food: Gate Gourmet Belgium NV (announced on December 17, 2024) – the selection process for a continuous second provider
Electrification as a selection standard
The proposals received were evaluated based on a series of objective criteria compatible with the current legislation to ensure safe, sound and high -quality ground services for airlines.
The selection criteria also included sustainability requirements. Especially focused on the circulating stock electrification, with specific criteria built into the procedure. This is in line with the new airport’s environmental declaration, which states that 80 % of air vehicles must be speculated or replaced by zero emissions alternatives by 2030.
Brussels Airport Company Kamiser for the electrode operations
These electrical efforts cannot be implemented by service providers alone. As an airport operator, Brussels Airport Company plays a major role in facilitating ground operations.
Currently, nearly half of the AirSide 600 – run by external partners – are already electric. To accelerate the electrification of ground operations and facilitate the transmission of energy, Brussels Airport received 7.2 million euros from funding from the European Commission for the Breeze program (“Brussels Airport Electrification for zero emissions”). By December 2027, the BREZE program aims to install more than 300 charging stations using a decentralized approach to increase energy efficiency to the maximum and reduce unnecessary movement of heavy vehicles. The project also includes providing electricity to fixed aircraft.
To meet the increasing electricity needs, the airport will also reinforce the electrical network with new high -voltage cabins and expand electricity production on site, including installing additional solar panels with a total capacity of 5 megawatts.
“With the BREZE program, Brussels Airport aims to enhance its role as a sustainable sustainability – a role that was already adopted through the Stargate Green Division project – and accelerate carbon removal for all airport operations. Arnoud Vest, CEO of Brussels Airport, says we play a decisive role in enabling land treatments and airlines to break their fleet and air effects and remove carbon from their operations, “says Arnoud Vest, CEO of Brussels Airport.
